


Any Moment

by RebelPaisley



Series: Any Moment [2]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Genre: Cam and Hunter you guys, F/M, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, New take on the Ninja Storm season, Series progression, Slow Build, They're not very smart, eventual slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-29
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2017-12-13 07:42:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 176,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/821750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebelPaisley/pseuds/RebelPaisley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the little things that build a relationship; it just takes a while for Dustin and Hunter to figure out what those things mean. And, you know, being a Power Ranger tends to complicate things. </p>
<p>Loosely follows the series.</p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>In which Dustin and Shane have issues with noticing things. Also, Cam and Hunter have issues with not-being morons. It's kind of a problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Technically, this is a shortened down, cleaned up version of a story I have already posted on my fanfiction.net account. So I warn you, as this happens to be the very first fanfic I had ever written, the beginning is a bit rough, save for a few parts I wrote in at a later date, after I had learned a thing or two. 
> 
> The goal of this was to streamline the streamline the story, work out some awkward wordings, and give the overall tale a tune up. Formatting, grammar, cliché's were all to be nitpicked. 
> 
> It will get better, cross my heart. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

Though Dustin was not sure of many things in his life, he couldn't deny the fact that their zord battle against the Thunder punks had not gone well.

Actually that was an understatement - if the sparking wires that had so nicely _not_ been sparking (or even visible) before the battle - were any indication. His cockpit looked like a tornado had hit it, and he felt like he had been caught in it. Having the biggest zord wasn't looking like such a good thing now. Biggest zord equaled majority of the damage. That hadn't been much of a problem until this point, but then again, they hadn't really gotten schooled until now.

No, that wasn't quite the right way to put it. They got owned. And not like kinda-owned, but completely-and-totally owned, which was something Dustin would've been more worried about if his back wasn't throbbing.

Slowly, the yellow ranger craned his head to see the cause of his discomfort, which appeared to be a giant piece of metal that used to be a support beam or…something, it was probably important, and was probably something else he should be entirely more worried about _not_ being in its proper supporting place, but again, _back in major pain_.

So…Cam was gonna be _mad._ And not funny-Cam mad, like that one time Dustin had switched Ninja Ops screensaver to these sick motocross pictures (he was just trying to share, you know, boost team morale) and the tech ranted/lectured for a little bit but it was still kinda funny; but like, _super,_ red, face-might-explode mad.

And that was not cool. It wasn't even entirely their fault either.

Well, the part where they had gotten beat up, _that_ might have been their fault, but the power disk interception thing…not cool man. That had to be like a foul or something.

Dustin didn't think that would really stop Cam from ranting at them though.  Or, it might, but only for a little bit. Cam _did_ like his ranting. Sometimes Dustin thought the genius made up rules just so he could say they had broken them so he could yell at them some more.

Okay, Cam probably didn't, but…maybe Dustin should talk to him more, just in case.

That would be really sad if that was the highlight of his day.

Another wire sparking to life near Dustin’s face drew him out of his mental side trip and back into the battle zone. How had nothing worked against those guys? The serpent sword hadn't worked and the megazord's lightning mode had done diddly against them and lighting mode was _awesome_. Didn’t lightning trump thunder? Thunder was just noise. And there were only _two_ of them. Granted, they were two super angry-dudes with a chip on their shoulder, but having one more person should've counted for _something_. They weren't _that_ bad.

Dustin briefly wondered if they had seriously offended the Thunder Rangers by saving the world without inviting them, and maybe that was why they were mad, but if that had been the case wouldn't the other two rangers have stopped fighting them after the first round of butt-kicking? Had the repeat performance really been necessary?

Timidly, the brunette tried to shimmy his way out from under the beam to avoid being shocked by the mess that used to be his cockpit, but the thing wouldn't budge.

He could think of better ways to spend his evening.

Dustin started to bring his morpher to his mouth to call for the others but noticed that it, like his zord, was trashed so… waiting time? Yeah, waiting time.

How was he still morphed?

It wasn't long though (which was awesome because breathing was becoming a bit of an issue) before the yellow ranger heard the door open up behind him. He really hoped it was his team and not the other guys because right now he was a sitting duck - and really dumb looking - but the duck thing was the bigger issue, really. But seeing (or feeling, he supposed) as the person was attempting to pull the beam _off_ instead of trying to incinerate him; they were probably from his team. Unless the Thunders liked to look you in the eye when they destroyed you, which given their track record, would be fitting.

But they'd probably be taunting him too; it was like, in the rules.

"How well did you wedge this thing?"

It was Shane. Well, that was a relief; he'd just do the taunting and not the killing…and Dustin was rather fond of the not-killing, or destroying.

Tori was kind of touchy about wording.

"I didn't do anything,” the brunette grumbled, gesturing vaguely in the red ranger's direction. "It was the guys shooting at us; it's not like I enjoy not-breathing."

In fact Dustin hated it, but Shane got what he meant; he was good with these kinds of things. That was one of Dustin’s favorite things about Shane; he didn't really have to explain himself because the other ranger could fill in the blanks, like he was supreme master of Dustin-ese.

"Your talking says you breathe just fine," the leader teased in return, and he heard Shane shift to get his shoulder underneath the beam. Pulling on it must not be effective. Maybe the skater would have more luck than Dustin. Sure, being oddly hunched over didn't really help with leverage but Dustin had _really_ been trying.

"That's because I'm awesome…and…morphed."

Which was only possible because of a higher power, i.e., Cam. Dustin hoped they didn't power down soon, that would probably lower the chances of Shane getting the support off and, you know, breathing.

Shane seemed to get the message and tried jerking the beam to the side to give Dustin some more space. "If you're so awesome, why don't you get yourself out?"

The bar stubbornly stayed in place. It must be working for the Thunders.

_Hah, Thunder beam._

"And miss spending quality time with you? No way, dude."

Also, awesome people had other people do things for them. _Fact_.

"Right," Shane grunted, and, right, they were still talking. "Perish the thought."

There was some shuffling outside the door and then a soft call, "Guys?"

Enter Tori; so did that mean the bad guys had left the building? Good riddance. Dustin had read about evil rangers in his comic books, but they were so much worse in real life.

There was some more shuffling; sounded like she was probably trying to avoid wires, something Dustin wished he could be doing right now. "Are you in there?"

"Yeah," Shane called back. "Dustin's trapped."

"And not by choice," the yellow ranger added, just so no one would be confused.

Because confusion was their greatest worry right now, and not beam-death.  Most certainly not beam-death. 

_Death by way of beam._

"Help me get him out," The red ranger ordered, giving another push.

It was a good thing Shane was the red guy, because even though Tori was going to help anyway Shane telling her to was encouraging, because then there was a plan, and plans were awesome. If Dustin had said that it would've sounded ridiculous.

With Shane pushing and Tori pulling it wasn't long before there was a little give. The yellow ranger hurriedly pulled himself down to duck under it and…got his helmet stuck, which was not an improvement; it was worse.

At least now Dustin could see Shane, who was staring at him in disbelief.

"You're kidding me." The red ranger smacked the side of his helmet. "You've _got_ to be kidding me."

"I wish dude," Dustin helpfully replied. His face was only turning red because of the added pressure of the beam…that was it; it had nothing to do with him not thinking things through.

Nothing at all.

He gently started tugging his head down as far down as he could go, which wasn't much, and together he and Shane started pushing up on the stupid hunk of metal. Powering down now would not equal happiness; in fact, it would probably equal unhappiness, for Dustin’s head, and the team, and they'd have to get another ninja to replace him but since Lothor took them all that would be an issue. Unless Cam did it. Could Cam fight? Cam would probably be an awesome ranger.

Dustin shared this thought with his friends.

Clearly, Shane was not impressed with his observation. "Right. Great. Can we focus?"

Well, at least they cared.

So it was back to saving Dustin's head time. The brace finally shifted again and Dustin scrambled back, Tori pulling him along, over his discarded chair. It landed with a thud just as their morphers ran out of juice, powering them down.

Well… _that_ was cutting it close. Dustin wondered if the morphers were broken if they still got enhanced healing (did that kinda thing stick with you?). He could feel the bruises pulsing from that stupid beam, and his head was really starting to hurt. It was ridiculous; he got his worst injury _after_ the battle? That was so lame.

_Curse you Thunder beam._

"Hey man, are you alright?" Shane asked, pulling the other two rangers up from the floor, and then making sure they stayed _off_ the floor.

It was a process that took longer than it probably should have due to the small space and mess they had to avoid.

"If I say no, will you carry me?" Dustin replied.

That would be sweet; the effects of being thrown around like a ragdoll were really starting to get to him. Not-walking sounded excellent.

Tori smacked Dustin’s arm as they exited the Lion Zord. "You almost got your head smashed in; take it seriously."

She looked upset but he doubted it was because of his comment. Or at least, entirely due to his comment.

It was probably a girl thing.

Shane quickly stepped in for Dustin's defense. "Take it easy Tori; it's been a long day for all of us."

Yeah, score point to the hawk dude. It was nice to always have someone have your back.

Shane looked at him pointedly, as though he could hear his thoughts. "And no, you're going to have to walk."

So, not entirely having your back. But the thought counted.

"Bummer."

Dustin would live, but not-walking would've been really nice. Shane, despite his earlier complaint, helped him along anyway, pulling the yellow ranger’s right arm over his shoulder as Tori led them away from their trashed zords.

"So," Shane started, readjusting his grip on Dustin's arm. "How mad do you think Cam's going to be?"

"Face explode," Dustin replied softly, ignoring the looks his two friends threw him as they made their way up the hill.

-:-:-:-:-:-

While the morphers were more than capable of repairing themselves, Cam felt that a helping hand might speed up the process. Whatever he was speeding it up _for_ he remained uncertain, but he _was_ sure that there would probably be another attack as soon as the repairs were finished. So his goal was "just in the knick of time".

That often seemed to be his goal.

For once he had Ninja Ops to himself, which gave him plenty of time to contemplate the happenings of the past few days.

The extensive damage the Thunder Rangers had inflicted upon the Wind's zords was an issue, but not the biggest one. Comparatively, the two sets of morphers (the Wind morphers and the Thunder morphers) were evenly matched, seeing as they had come from the same place; the difference then had to be _how_ they were used. The Thunders had a motive, and whatever it was it was relentless. There was no other way they could so soundly defeat the Wind Rangers every time. It was almost frightening to imagine what could cause such outright fury towards another team of Power Rangers. The wearers themselves weren't naturally evil, they couldn't be, otherwise the power would never work for them. They were just _choosing_ an evil course of action, and something detrimental to their state of being had to happen to make them so easily discard their morals.

Or perhaps Cam was completely wrong and they were just evil. He _did_ only have one set of morphers to study after all. But he was confident in his assessment. He vaguely wondered if there would ever come a time when Lothor escalated his actions to such a degree that the Wind Rangers felt those same emotions. If they become just as unstoppable, Cam wondered what the cost would be.

It wasn't a pleasant train of thought.

Thankfully, he was interrupted from his musings by the sounds of someone descending the staircase; a glance up confirmed it to be Tori. Outwardly he didn't show it, but inside he couldn't help but smile because of the three of the chosen rangers Tori was the one he actually _liked_ talking to. It was disappointing that she had been dragged down in training by her two teammates (before this mess began); he had always felt she had much more potential.

However this wasn't a social call, (they never were); apparently one of the new guys in town had injured himself attempting to rescue Tori, and seeing as it was a Lothor-related attack she decided to bring him here instead of a hospital.

Even if her actions were out of guilt it was probably for the best, it wasn't like the hospitals were equipped to deal with this sort of thing.

Grumbling, Cam followed her to the outskirts of the waterfall where her wounded companion lay.

It was one of the guys Cam had heard Dustin and Shane speaking about earlier, of that he was certain. It was irrelevant though, this guy obviously wasn't that bright. Tori had told the tech she was at the beach when the newest of Lothor's army had assaulted her and that Blake ( _that_ was his name) had rode up on his bike and "saved" her.

What had he been doing out there? According to what Cam had gleaned from Dustin's riding habits (a conversation that had more or less been thrust upon him) one usually rode at the track, or through forest trails, so what had this numbskull been doing at the beach?

Based on the doting looks Tori had been throwing the ever unconscious _Blake_ while the tech removed the cybernetic leeches that had rendered him in that state, Cam would say the boy was sweet on her. That might explain it. Or he was a stalker. Either way Cam decided he was not one of Blake’s fans. Tori was more than capable of handling the situation on her own and the teen had probably just gotten in the way. So really, his injury was well deserved.

He had just wanted to play hero for his pretty damsel.

Cam couldn't really argue with that. Tori _was_ pretty. She was smart and not obnoxious, unlike _others_ from her age group. And to her credit she was also persuasive, convincing Cam not to inform his father about this transgression, if his father didn't already know about it.

He got a kiss for his efforts though, so that was nice. Chaste, on the cheek, but still nice.

It was more contact than Cam was accustomed to.

The tech would never dare speak it aloud but he often felt lonely. Being the sensei's son had never helped his predicament and the whole never-leaving-the-school thing proved disobliging as well. Now the only people he had constant contact with were the rangers and they treated him like an outsider, depending on him only for things like…well, like this. To say it was frustrating would be an understatement. Cam couldn't say they were bad company; he really couldn't, because he had never been given the opportunity to spend time with them outside their "working" environment.

As he kept vigil over Blake's inert body, he briefly wondered how much of that was his fault.

-:-:-:-:-:-

There was nothing like a rush of adrenaline to take away all your worries. It was something about soaring through the air, dirt flying in all directions that made the day so much _better._ Whoever thought of combining high speeds with getting dirty was a genius, at least, in Dustin's humble opinion. Just about everyone else thought it was crazy, and that made it even more fun. This sport was made for him.

Shane was the one that had suggested it, and Dustin had to give it to his friend, when he was right, he was _right._ The brunette had been a little afraid that he might be too distracted for riding but once he got his bike beneath him all that other stuff just melted away. It was just him and the sky…and Shane, watching him be awesome with the sky. You would think his friend's presence might have added extra pressure for his tricks but for Dustin it was the exact opposite. He _loved_ having an audience, especially when it was Shane because the red ranger could appreciate the distinct intricacies of what Dustin was doing, as where Tori just lectured him for taking too many risks. Hey, you had to "go hard, or go home", and Dustin wasn't going home.

It was lonely there.

But in order to get the applause he knew was coming (for which Shane was the Grand Master of doling out), Dustin would need to tear himself away from the world in the air he loved so much. It wasn't too terribly hard though; basking in praise was a pretty strong motivation.

As he pulled off the track, he spotted Tori with Blake by her van which…yeah, that actually made a lot of sense. Hunter had asked if Dustin and Shane knew where the younger Bradley was earlier, and it figured he'd be with Tori. Or like, Tori would be with him. There was something going on there, Dustin knew it, he just didn't know what it was. But he was willing to bet anything Shane did.

Normally Cam was the guy who knew it all, but when it came to stuff outside Ninja Ops it was all Shane. Good thing he was Dustin’s best friend. Speaking of which…

"Dude you were sick out there!" The dark-skinned teen crowed, patting the curly-haired tenn on the shoulder as he pushed his bike off the track, off towards the equipment van. "Much faster than last time."

Inside Dustin cheered, reveling in the compliment. This was his favorite part of practice when he brought his friend along. He didn't usually fish for flattery, but it felt so…nice. Like, warm and fuzzy nice. Better than hot chocolate. And it wasn’t like Dustin was going to get a big head about it, so no harm done.

"I know man, I was in the zone." Dustin’s face broke out into a giant smile. It was good to be appreciated.

"And so humble." The other teen joked, jabbing him in the side lightly.

"Hey, when you got it, you got it right?" Dustin grinned, pulling off his helmet as they reached their destination. Further conversation was disturbed by a set of light footsteps coming up from behind them. Three guesses said it was Tori, finally done with Blake.

Shane grinned at her approach, settling against the van. "So, how's lover-boy?" he asked. "Do I need to beat him up? Defend your honor?"

"Didn't we already do this before?" Dustin asked, pausing before he chucked his helmet into the vehicle. "With the surfer guy? Moral of the story was to keep our mouths shut?"

They didn't even scare that guy off either; he and Shane just hadn't known he was interested in Tori. That led to them getting majorly chewed out by their friend and _that_ was a day Dustin did _not_ want to ever repeat again.

Wait…lover-boy?

Dustin frowned. "Dude, are you guys dating?"

She would've said something.

It was Tori's turn to frown.

"No, we're not dating, and no," she continued, turning to Shane who had a rather impressive smirk on his face. "You may not beat him up. He actually saved me from one of Lothor's goons."

That got their attention; Dustin paused in his loading and Shane pushed off the van to lean closer.

"I'll tell you later. Look," she changed the subject. "Cam fixed our morphers."

She opened her bag to reveal them in there not-destroyed glory. Cam must have been working double time because those things had been thrashed. He was like, super tech.

 _We should totally get him a cape_ _to like, thank him for being awesome._

Like she could read his mind (and it wouldn't surprise him if she could) Tori carried on, "And remember to tell him thank you next time you see him; I think he's feeling a little under appreciated."

Well… that was freaky.

Strapping his morpher back on made Dustin feel whole again, like a part of him had been missing, and thoughts of capes and missing pieces came to a halt as their morphers chimed. It was Cam saying something about…a frog by a river? Was that a monster, or was Cam suddenly interested in amphibians?

Following the other two usually worked when Dustin was confused, so why change a good thing? With a grin, he followed Tori and Shane to the mystery of the frog. Hopefully this fight wouldn't go as bad as the last one. Especially when it got to the zords.

_I've got my eye on you thunder beam._

-:-:-:-:-:-

The tension inside the mobile command center was thick, with Cam monitoring their progress in the front and Shane quietly talking to Tori in the back, Dustin had taken to hovering behind Cam.

It had been Blake and Hunter the whole time. The brunette wondered how hard they must've laughed at his attempts to be friends with them. How far beneath them they must have thought he was. He felt so…used. Like there was this empty feeling inside that throbbed. It went away if he avoided thinking about it, but only for a little bit.

Tori probably felt worse than he did. It wasn't like one of them tried to woo him.

For what felt like the hundredth time that day Dustin sighed and continued pacing behind Cam. He wasn't good at the whole talking-thing but he could at least like, physically be there for the tech. Even if Cam didn't acknowledge him.

Dustin glanced back at Shane and Tori again. He wouldn't lie, when he started being friends with those two he was afraid they would do exactly what Blake and Hunter did and think of him as more of a joke than a friend, especially Shane. Girls didn't "scare" Dustin as much. For some reason he just wasn't good at the whole friendship thing, like, people Dustin had thought were his friends were really just using him for something, so when he found his fellow ninjas it felt too good to be true. Only time made him more sure of himself. But now the whole process had started over again.

They had taken Sensei. They, in their evil-ranger-ness had stolen Sensei for unknown purposes, but they were probably going to try and kill him because they were evil like that and that was just how they rolled.

 _Jerks_.

Turning, Dustin decided to take his thoughts elsewhere.

"Are we almost there Cam? I'm freaking out over here," he blurted, leaning over Cam's shoulder to get a better view of the screen. He didn't really understand it, but it was a nice distraction.

"You're freaking out? It's _my_ father they took." Cam hissed, frowning at the yellow ranger.

"I'm sorry, it's just…" Dustin trailed off, rocking back on his heels as he subconsciously adjusted his gauntlets. "Shouldn't I have noticed? I know I'm not that observant but-"

"Hey." The yellow ranger was cut off by Shane's shout from the back. "Enough of that. This isn't anyone's fault but Blake and Hunter's."

Briefly, Dustin held the leader's gaze as a wave of relief washed over him. He could tell himself that as much as he wanted but it never really made a difference until he heard it from someone else.

Out of the corner of him eye Dustin saw Cam relax, not much, but it still counted.

See, red guy power in action.

It had probably been an awful day for Cam. Work, work, work on the morphers, then get sneak attacked by the Thunder goons, and _then_ have them kidnap his father.

Totally bad day. Dustin wished there was something more he could do.

The yellow ranger turned to face him as the others got in position on their bikes. "We'll get him back Cam." he promised, crossing his heart.

The action earned him a tight frown from the tech. Frowns were bad, so Dustin went with his next logical choice to making someone feel better and tackle hugged him, which was a little awkward because he was standing and the other teen was sitting, but a hug was a hug.

Cam pushed the brunette off and turned back to the console, but couldn't hide a small smile that was on his face. Mission partially accomplished, Dustin grinned and got on his bike, completely missing a look of surprise from Shane.

_Alright, time to get the bad guys._


	2. Getta Loada Toad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place between the Thunders leaving and the very beginning of episode 8, "Nowhere to Grow".

_That_ , Dustin thought, _that entire business was a mess._

The whole Thunder brothers kidnapping/revenge/continuous jerkface-ness business. The whole, let's fight each other, no let's fight _together_ , no, let's go back to fighting each other confusing… _thing_ where everything kept changing so fast that it made his head spin. _That_ business.

And why had it happened?

The thunder rangers (somehow) had thought Sensei had killed their parents, which was whack because anyone who had spent more than five seconds with sensei would know that he would never do that. Seriously, five seconds, that was all it would take.  Obviously, Hunter and Blake had spent much _more_ than five seconds with him (remember, the whole kidnapping thing) but their minds had already been made up so that hadn’t counted. Obviously.

It was a shame though; they could've saved themselves a lot of trouble.

They had said that Lothor had been convincing. Dustin hoped that was the case. It wouldn't be cool if they just enjoyed beating people up.

And by people, he meant _him_.

But what was done was done, and the two other rangers had skipped town. They didn't really give a reason why (it wasn't their fault they were tricked, so it wasn’t like that could be counted), but they would probably be back. They were Power Rangers after all; they always came back in the comics.

That didn't stop Tori from being bummed. Not that she would say anything about it. She must've seriously had a thing for Blake. It was probably because he was little. Girls loved little things, like puppies, and purses, and those tiny cupcakes…that had to be it. He had charmed her with his midget ways.

With everything that had been happening Dustin had almost forgotten that he was going to get something for Cam. The tech _had_ done an awesome job, he had earned it. The problem was what to get him. It was a tricky thing. Dustin knew he couldn't get Cam any kind of technical gadget (because he didn't know anything about that stuff and knowing himself he would probably get Cam something he already had, or something that was completely useless, or something he didn't _want_ ) and there weren't any costume shops in town, and Dustin couldn't sew, so he couldn't get Cam a cape like he originally planned.

It would've been so cool to see Cam in one of those.

Dustin had been walking home from Storm Chargers the day after they had cleared everything up with Blake and Hunter when inspiration had finally struck.

Or rather, was finally _heard_.

Ribbits that usually blended in with the white noise of the suburbs brought the brunette back to the frog monster they had fought after Cam had fixed their morphers.

It was genius, it really was.

Dustin would get Cam a frog. That way the dude would have company when they weren't there, and frogs were totally green which was Cam's favorite color. Well, that was more of a guess, but there had to be a reason he wore it all the time.

It was perfect. Dustin wasn't sure if pet stores sold frogs, but even if they did he still wanted to catch one. _Sooo_ much more fun.

Which led to today, Thursday, the almost-greatest day of the week (the greatest being Friday).

Side-by-side, he and Shane walked to the creek that was near Dustin’s house. Frog catching was made infinitely better by the presence of his best friend. Probably. Dustin didn't really know from experience but being with Shane made most things better. Dustin would've invited Tori but she had mentioned something about catching up on homework, and he didn't want to bother her (even if it was her loss).

"Why a Frog?"

Until now their trek had been silent, grass and dirt moist from the rain earlier, squishing beneath their worn out sneakers as they neared their destination.

Dustin smiled as he revealed his reasoning. "Dude, it's so perfect. He gets a present _and_ a friend."

Not that Cam didn't have friends (they were totally Cam's friends), Dustin just wanted him to have company for when they weren't there.

"And a fish can't do that?"

Dustin's smile widened as his excitement began to return. "Fish are boring, and frogs are green man," he shared a knowing look with Shane. Obviously he wasn't the only one who noticed the one-shade wardrobe. "And like, every time it ribbits he'll totally think about how much we appreciate him. It's perfect."

Ribbits of love. It sounded like a cheesy kid's song.

"Whatever you say man," Shane replied, smiling easily. "Let's just hope it isn't too loud; don't want your plan to backfire and give Cam a headache."

Dustin hadn't thought of that. A surge of panic coursed through him and caused his hands to tighten around his frog-capturing jar. He whipped his head back around to face Shane, one question after the other jumbling in his mind and attempting to pour out his mouth at the same time.

"What? Do you think that could happen? He could just- well,  if it got that bad he could-”

Shane sighed and brought his right hand up to comfortingly pat Dustin’s back before wrapping the appendage around his shoulders. "I was just joking, Cam will like it."

"Of course," Dustin boasted, puffing his chest out. "It'll be from us, he _has_ to like it."

They were forced words but hey, when worst came to worst, fake it. It usually worked.

They reached their destination, a creek, perfect for frog hunting, and Dustin pushed those unpleasant thoughts aside and got down to business.

"Alright, let's do this ninja style." He shared one last grin with his partner-in-crime before he turned and slowly crept down to the creek water. It was dark and murky, but near the middle he could just make out things moving around underneath the surface.

_Jackpot_.

The brunette twisted the lid (that he had so thoughtfully poked holes into) of the jar off and placed it on the ground silently, all the while keeping his movements as slow and smooth as he could. Shane eyed him with amusement and then looked back at the water, studying the shadows. Slowly, the red ranger leaned over the creek (so as to not startle the frogs) and moved his hands out, spread apart over the water.  Dustin copied him.

Frog catching position assumed.

Both held still, waiting calmly for the moment one of the blobs swam close enough to be snatched up.

And… _there_.  Dustin quickly plunged his hands into the water to catch his froggy prey. But just as he got his hands under it, it attempted to swim out of his reach. _Sooo_ not happening. This guy was perfect; he was big, and definitely a frog, and… perfect. He had some nerve attempting to challenge the yellow ranger; didn't he know yellow ranger didn’t lose?

Except for sometimes, but that wasn’t now.

Dustin followed along with the frog, pushing himself forward and successfully trapping it between his hands. For a moment, all was right with the world.

And then in the following moment, everything was wet with the world. Sputtering, Dustin pulled himself out of the water, spitting out whatever creek germs had gotten into his mouth. Shane gave up ninja stealth for laughing, clutching his left hand to his side.

He somewhat redeemed himself by offering Dustin the jar in his right hand.

Dustin glanced down to see that he had managed to keep a hold of his frog in the spill and gladly shoved the thing into the jar, willing it far away and Shane twisted the lid back on it to seal off its escape.

The brunette wondered what Cam would name it. Probably a smart-ish sounding name like Phillip or Fergusson or…Leonard.

Leonard actually wasn't that bad.

Shane's laughter died down as he set the jar on the ground. He turned and offered his hand to Dustin.

"Ninja style, huh?" He smirked, face incredibly smug.

He stopped smirking when Dustin grabbed his hand and yanked the other teen into the creek with him, making sure they were both thoroughly drenched.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Mission accomplished, they made a quick stop at Dustin's house to change out of their soaking clothes before they got ready to deliver Cam's present. During the proceedings, Dustin didn't even try to hide his smirk. Shane grumbled at the lack of red in his borrowed wardrobe, but he would get no pity from _this_ guy.

He shouldn't have laughed.

Originally Dustin had planned to give Cam his present at training the next day, but Shane's comment (even if it was just a joke) had made him rethink that idea. He decided to ease Cam into owning the frog-gift. And by ease into, Dustin meant leave it in Ninja Ops when Cam was out so that the tech could find it later, when _they_ weren't there. That way, if Cam didn't like it he could get rid of it before training and they could all act like it never happened. Or the frog would be so awesome that Cam would grow to love it before training.

Either way, win-win.

It had taken some convincing, a little yelling (on Tori's part, not theirs), and a promise not to leave the aqua ranger out of any future plans (she should at least be given the option to turn them down, _‘thank you very much’_ ) before the third musketeer was on board for plan " _Sneak-Cam-the-frog_ ". Dustin hadn't thought Tori would be that upset for missing out on the dirty part, and she probably wasn't but…well, he should probably be nice to her just in case.

He didn't want to mess anything up.

It wasn't until they were halfway to Ninja Ops before Tori noted a rather big flaw in Dustin's plan.

"So, how are you going to distract Cam?"

"What?" Dustin asked, snapping out of his daydream (he'd been at the track, with Shane of course). He looked up from his seat in the back to see Tori looking at him through the rear view mirror.

"You said you're going to sneak it in, right? That means Cam can't be in the room, so how are you going to getting him out?"

Shane watched them silently from the passenger seat with a small smile. He must have known what was coming next.

"Well…" the yellow ranger started, slowly scratching his head. "I hadn't actually thought of that yet."

"Seriously?" Tori sounded less than pleased.

"Hey come on, I came up with the whole frog idea, can't one of you guys think of a Cam-distraction?" Dustin wasn't even that good at planning, he was honestly surprised he had gotten this far.

"What would make Cam leave the main room?" Shane interrupted, leader-face fully engaged (this time for actual leadering).

Cue brainstorming time.

"Bathroom?" Dustin suggested, momentarily forgetting his earlier complaint. The other two stared at him.

"Are you suggesting we just wait around until Cam needs to use the bathroom? That could take hours." Tori said, clearly displeased with idea. And _she_ was supposed to be the patient one.

"We could give him water." That ought to cheer her up; water was her thing.

"I think Cam would notice if we tried _to force feed_ him water."

"Wouldn't it be like, force-drink?"

"Not the point."

"What about the Tsunami cycles?" Shane broke in, squeezing Tori's shoulder briefly. For…comfort? This conversation wasn't that stressful.

"They don't need water dude."

Shane looked at Dustin with an unreadable expression before he continued. "I meant that we," he pointed at himself and Tori, taking his hand off of her shoulder. "Could tell Cam we were having issues with the Tsunami cycles."

"Oh, I see," Tori chirped, smile reappearing. "Then he takes us to the bikes to see what's wrong and Dustin sneaks the tank in."

"Dude, that's awesome!" Dustin exclaimed, bouncing in his seat.

Being a part of a team was the best; he never would have thought of something like that on his own.

He tried to look at that positively.

But…

"There's nothing wrong with the bikes."

Shane waved it off like it was a minor detail. "Well you know that, and _I_ know that-"

"I bet Cam knows that too." Tori goaded, a knowing look on her face.

"Look, we just have to get him out of the room. We'll play dumb when everything works, and we'll be fine." Shane looked back and forth between the two of them. "Are we good?"

Dustin nodded along with Tori.

They were good.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Dustin waited quietly, fingers crossed for Shane and Tori. Hopefully Cam would buy Shane's idea. The yellow ranger felt a little bad for lying (well, encouraging lying) to Cam. He knew that they didn't talk that often - well, he did _try,_ but Cam never seemed to want him (or Shane) around - but the tech was still part of the team. A super important, Lothor-would-have-probably-taken-over-the-world-if -not-for-him, part of the team and he didn't deserve to be lied to.

Dustin had a sudden thought. What if Cam thought they were making fun of him? Like they had run out of things to do and decided to pull a fast one on him to pass the time? Dustin knew from experience that never left you with a good feeling.

No, Cam was smart enough to know they would never do that. Or like, Tori would never do that. (The guy had a soft spot for Tori, even if he wouldn't admit it.) And then he'd see Dustin's frog-with-frog-tank gift and everything would be happy.

The silence was broken as the door to Ninja Ops slid open, Cam's voice carrying into the forest.

"What are you suggesting, that I'm incapable of repairing your bikes?"

Cam sounded annoyed, climbing the stairs at a rapid pace. At least they managed to get him outside.

"That's not it at all Cam, we just want to see if the bugs…" Dustin could practically hear Cam glare at Tori, “…if the _issues_ we were having were really gone, that way if they were still there you could see for yourself."

"We're just trying to be responsible," Shane added, patting Cam's shoulder as they headed towards the mobile command center.

When they were far enough away Dustin streaked into Ninja Ops, coming to a halt in the main room.

Now, where to put it… he probably should have thought of that beforehand… _Cam's lab!_

It was a quick trip, and Dustin found a table near the center of the lab and left the tank there, stepping back to admire his handiwork, but only for a little bit. Cam wouldn't be distracted for long.

Dustin really hoped he liked it. The brunette knew it wasn't…well, a normal thing to get someone, but he hoped the thought and effort that went into it would make up for that.

_Pff_ , what was he worried about? Cam was a smart guy, he'd figure it out.

Mind made up, Dustin streaked out of Ninja Ops, racing back towards Tori's van.

Cam would like it. Dustin could just _feel_ it.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Cam stared.

Then (just to be sure) he took off his glasses and carefully cleaned the lenses with the edge of his shirt, taking expert care to get rid of any smudges (as if a smudge could do this).

Process complete, he replaced his glasses.

The tank was still there.

He had thought- no, he had _known_ something was amiss when Shane and Tori had made that pointless visit, dragging him away from his work. And what did they want him to check up on? Nothing. A whole load of nothing. That was what it turned out to be, because absolutely nothing had been wrong with the Tsunami cycles.

This reminded Cam of something…what was it? Oh, that was right, it reminded him of earlier, when he had checked on the Tsunami cycles after the fight and found out that there was absolutely _nothing_ wrong with them.  Exactly how bored had they been that they felt the need to bother him? And if they were going to waste his time they could at least think of a decent excuse. They owed him that much.

It wasn't until after they had left, disgustingly pleased with themselves (for no good reason) that Cam realized that there was something bigger going on.

He should have figured it out when Shane showed up without Dustin, because _that_ never happened. In fact, if they were having legitimate issues with the bikes at all (not that they were, but hypothetically) it would make infinitely more sense for them to go to Dustin first.

But back to the matter at hand.

There was a tank. A tank with a bulky red bow that had at the very least 12 pieces of tape haphazardly holding it in place. Cam didn't even have to read the note that had been strategically stuffed into the bow to realize whose handiwork this was. It had Dustin written all over it.

So Shane and Tori had been decoys.

Seeing as it wasn't going to go away anytime soon (he could only hope), Cam decided to take a closer look at this… _thing_ that was taking up prime space on his favorite table. It was an old fish tank with what appeared to be a make-shift lid of cardboard taped on top. It didn't quite cover the entire tank, but left two small slits on its sides for…air?

Cam bent over and studied the contents of the tank. It had been divided down the middle, one side packed with dirt and the other with pond water and there, perched on the edge of the water, was a frog.

A frog.

Through this, Cam managed to discern one thing.

Dustin had a convoluted thought process.

As he straightened back up he grabbed the note out of the bow and steeled himself for whatever its contents might express. Carefully, he unfolded the wrinkled sheet of notebook paper. The bold chicken scratch read as such:

**TO: CAM**

**FROM: NOT LOTHOR**

**(SHANE, DUSTIN, AND TORI)**

**THANKS FOR THE HARD WORK. WE APRECEATE IT.**

**PS. YOU SHOULD NAME HIM LEONARD**

Truly, a stimulating read.

Cam tried not to cringe at the blatant spelling errors, but couldn’t help but note how good it was that Dustin lived in the age of spell check. The brunette probably wouldn't go far otherwise.

A quick patter of feather light footsteps carrying into the room was the only warning Cam had before his father landed on the lab table next to his…gift. His father made a cursory trip across the front of the tank to consider its insides before he chose to speak.

" _Ah_ , so that is what Dustin snuck in here."

"You saw this happen?" And he didn't _stop_ him? Or at least ask the earth ninja what it _meant_?

"Yes, but I didn't want to interrupt. It seems he put a lot of work into this."

"It's a frog." Cam grunted, glaring at the subject of their conversation with distaste.

It stared back at him blankly.

"It is a gift." His father reminded Cam, small arms folding behind his back.

A moment of quiet drifted over them as they contemplated the frog.  Or at least, as Cam contemplated the frog. There had to be some significance.

His father broke the silence.

"What is its name?"

Cam glanced back down at his note, squinting at the bottom line.

"Leonard, apparently." Cam frowned. "It's a stupid name."

He forced his eyes away when his father looked up at him, knowing full well he disapproved of his comment, but Cam wouldn't take it back. It _was_ a stupid name. It was a stupid gift. Why a frog? He had given no indication, no hint no… _nothing_ that he even had a predilection towards that specific kind of amphibian, let alone a desire to own one.

But somehow, he wasn't sure how (this was Dustin after all), somehow it fit.

And somehow it made Cam feel a little more a part of a team.

Not that he would ever tell them.

He carefully folded the note back up and placed it on the table before he turned and went over to his computer, settling himself in for some light research.

If he was going to keep this thing, he should probably learn what it ate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	3. A Little Fall of Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Les Miserables the book, nor the musical.

So the thing about fighting evil-space-plant-monsters was that they, in their evilness, also came with evil space _pollen_ that had decided that Dustin was _not_ its friend. In fact, they were so _un_ -friendly that it had decided to make the yellow ranger incredibly sick, leaving him bedridden the entire weekend. That was right, stupid space pollen had made him sick on the _weekend_. And on top of _that_ Dustin had a test on Monday. It was in English class, over a book they were studying called Les Mis.   He had planned to use that weekend to cram and ride at the track, so it was safe to say he was not at all pleased with this turn of events.

Even after Dustin had reacquired his ability to move (of course by Monday, so he _had_ to go to school) his friends had pretty much forbidden him from doing any of his usual fun, normal, after school activities. No bike, no track, no mud.

He was still a “ _recovering boy after all”_.

Eventually, Shane admitted that after being cooped up in his room all weekend Dustin could use some fresh air and brought him to the skate park to film some more footage for the red ranger’s demo tape.

So here he was, sitting (at Shane's insistence) on a bench filming away. It wasn't the track, but it was still a humongous improvement to his room. And there was plenty of air.

Beautiful, wonderful, glorious air.

_Oh air, how you have been missed._

_Oh so very missed._

And Dustin had earned it. The test, that monster of a thing, was finally over and he wanted nothing more then to forget about it. He had probably gotten a C. He really had _tried_ , but all that stuff always got jumbled up in his head and he would mix up his answers. Even after the major study session he had with Shane and Tori Dustin still managed to be confused by half the questions.

In a way, it felt like he was letting down his team. Like, if he had tried _just_ a bit harder then maybe…

Maybe it wasn't entirely his fault. Dustin had been a little distracted with…stuff.

Tori, being the wonderful person that she was, had brought the mechanic something to help him learn the story better. It turned out this gigantic book had been made into a musical. It just so happened that her older sister's college had performed it awhile back, and because her sister was one of actors Tori's family had a tape of the show. The aqua ranger figured that if Dustin actually _saw_ what happened he would understand everything better. Plus, music and singing tended to improve most things.  If anything could help Dustin understand the novel, it would probably be a musical, and Tori had even said it was one of the greatest musicals of all time.

This was something Dustin was a little skeptical about because the book was boring with a capital B. It had taken him _forever_ to read all the way through it and by the time he had gotten to the end he had forgotten most of it.

Thankfully, that was why we had the internet.

So here was the basic low-down. This guy, Jean Valjean, stole a loaf of bread so that he could feed his family. _A legitimate worry._ Then he got locked away in prison (kinda) because people in France back in whenever-the-book-was-set were really protective over their bread. In Dustin's opinion, the punishment was way harsh.

Okay, so then the guy was locked away and tried to escape but he was like, the worst escapist in the world so he ended up getting caught and they made him stay locked away for 20 years because they're so mad or something along those lines. So (because he was _terrible_ at escaping) Valjean did his time and was set free to do as he pleased, which meant going to steal more stuff because that was all he could do, but then someone was awesome to him and he decided to be awesome for the rest of his life as well.

There was also this chick named Fantine who had a baby with a rich guy but the rich guy was all like _"No, I'm not gonna marry you because I'm a jerk"_ and he left her with nothing. She then left her kid with another family (which turned out to be a really _bad_ idea because they were _evil_ ) who she sent money to because no one wanted to hire a lady who had a kid with no husband.

The only real message Dustin was getting from this book was that people were mean. He was sure there was supposed to be other morals, but he honestly couldn't find them.

Anyway, eventually the people she worked with (it turned out that it was a factory that Jean (but not called Jean cuz he started over) ran) found out she had a kid and she got fired. Some stuff happened; and she somehow wound up in a hospital with Jean and she told him about her kid (whose name is Cosette) and died.

Or was destroyed.

By dying.

Somewhere in all this Jean (but not-Jean) had to go on the run again. Even though he had already served his time.

He got sad and decided to get the kid and raise her (because that was how awesome he was) and then the book skipped to like, 10 years in the future or something.

Also, there was this guy named Javert who dedicated his life to hunting Jean down because he must have nothing better to do.

Dustin thought he should try making bread, since they seemed to have such a shortage of _that._

Then there was this other dude that fell in love with Cosette named Marius. Then _she_ fell in love with _him_ and they got all lovey-dovey and gooey. For the life of him Dustin couldn't find any reason _why_ they fell in love except that they both thought that the other was hot. Which, he could admit, was a little important when it came to a relationship, but shouldn't they like…see if they liked each others’ personality or something? Was that all there was to it? You ran around all your life until you found the one person that _looked_ hot enough to be the one and then you were done?

Dustin had always thought there was more to it than that.

Okay, so they fell in love for _no good reason_ and then there was this war. Jean sent Cossette away for her protection and stayed to fight with Darius.

So maybe this wasn't the briefest of summaries.

But none of that was what was bothering Dustin. What bothered him was this one scene (this being the musical, which was a much _shorter (and_ therefore better) version of the book) where they were at this barricade and this _other_ girl (Eponine) who was in love with Darius took a bullet for him and said she loved him, and then he told her he wished she wasn't dying and they sang a sad song about rain and the audience cried and then she died.

Or was destroyed.

Or died.

What was up with that?

In the musical Darius and Cosette spent like, 10 minutes singing about how much they loved each other, and then this other girl (who looked like she _really_ loved him, and not just for his looks) got shot and _then_ he decided to care about her?

It got Dustin thinking.

Was Darius humoring her because she was dying?

Like, to make her last few moments happy ones but…it took her taking a bullet for him to care? To say he would love her? That was how much he couldn't be bothered? And…maybe it wasn't just the play, musical, whatever. Maybe people did this _all_ _the time._ Like, people lied to other people to make them feel better, which sounded reasonable but-

He always came back to how it affected him.

They…he, Shane and Tori didn't pick their ninja team, Sensei had done that. So what if Shane and Tori were making the best out of a bad situation, like Darius had? What if they just made due with what they got?

And it wasn't just them. All the other students had been kidnapped so they _had_ to be Power Rangers, but if Sensei had his pick would he have chosen them?

Probably not.

Until the attack Dustin had been pretty sure that Sensei didn't even _like_ them. He had simply made a bad situation…better. But that seemed pretty reasonable; of course you were supposed to make the best of any situation. It was just different when lying was involved. Dustin had been lied to all his life, and most of the time…most of the time he thought he deserved it. Because he wasn't smart enough to figure it out, or good enough or…just _enough_ , so he had it coming.

The only thing he really wanted was the truth.

He thought he _knew_ this. That Shane and Tori had already proven that they were his friends through thick and thin but-

It all felt so wrong. That stupid book shouldn't make him feel this way. It was too boring to be able to have that kind of power.

Shane had spent the entire weekend with Dustin, but had he done that because he cared about his _friend_ or did he do that because he cared about getting a ranger back into fighting shape?

Was it a lie?

Dustin wanted- no, he _needed_ an answer. He didn't care what it was, but he needed it and there was only one person he knew that was ruthlessly honest and had no problems with being mean.

Cam.

Shane landed some spinning move and skated off the ramp towards Dustin, wanting to see how good he looked. On a normal day, the brunette would happily tell him while they went over the footage.

But not today.

"Dude, am I awesome or what?" Shane said, smile wide, as he picked up his skateboard, plopping himself down on the bench next to Dustin. They slapped hands before Shane leaned over to look at the camera's view screen.

"Yeah dude, you looked great," Dustin answered, trying to sound as energetic as he normally did. He didn't quite make it. Shane quirked an eyebrow and pulled off his helmet, looking like he was about to call him out. Dustin decided to interrupt him before he did.

"Hey man, I think I left my coat at Ninja Ops on Friday so I'm gonna have to cut this short."

The look on Shane's face told him that Shane wasn't buying it.

"I don't remember you wearing a coat,"

"Uh…I wasn't when I left, so I have to go get it."

_Smooth Dustin_.

"Okay, I'll go with you," Shane said, beginning to pick up his gear.

"No!" Dustin answered, a little too quickly, grabbing Shane's arm. The skater's stare reminded him that he was _supposed_ to be playing it cool.

So far, not so cool.

Dustin took a breath and let go of Shane's arm.

"No," he started, this time softer. "I don't want to cut into your practice time."

Then, to let Shane know that he really was going to Ninja Ops and not to Storm Chargers or somewhere else to do _whatever_ Dustin added, "I'll take the camera back to Cam while I'm there and let you know how the footage turns out."

Shane nodded slowly, satisfied with his story. "Okay, see you later bro."

"Yeah dude," Dustin said as the packed up the camera. "Later."

His stomach churned as he walked away, sick with himself.

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

Surprisingly enough, it had been a pleasant evening for Cam. For once he was caught up on his work and there hadn't been any attacks. There was no training because Dustin was still recovering so the tech had Ninja Ops mostly to himself. He used this quiet time to tamper with a few of his side projects, including his research on Dustin's cold, which was currently futile. Nothing had come of it. He had "benched" it for the moment. All it seemed to do was make Cam want to hurl his chair through the nearest window.

Difficult to do in an underground base.

He was in the middle of entertaining the thought of taking a break for some light reading when his computer gave off a chime signaling that one of the rangers was calling him. As he walked over to his console he pondered who it was, and more importantly, why.

If it was Shane, it was either to make sure they were all clear for the night (which was something the red ranger usually forgot to do, so it was improbable that was the case) or it had something to do with Dustin or Tori. Based on what had occurred the past couple of days, his most plausible source for concern was Dustin. If it was Tori (and Cam sincerely hoped it was Tori), it would either be to make sure they were all clear for the night (and unlike Shane, she actually did this _every_ night) or commence in making small talk. On most occasions, it was both.

Cam appreciated those occasions.

Now, if it was Dustin…it could be genuinely anything. As of yet Cam had been unable to determine a pattern to Dustin's calls. Sometimes the mechanic called to simply wish him "good morning" despite the actual time of day. Dustin didn't seem to care. Most of these calls Cam got in the evening. Other times Dustin would turn to him for answers to seemingly useless questions instead of going through the trouble of looking in a dictionary, or using the internet. Cam couldn't help but feel that he might have misrepresented himself to the yellow ranger. While he may be fond of and possessed extraordinary skills with computers, he, in fact, was not one.

During these instances Cam would answer as many questions as he had patience (or time) for before he gave up and pretended that their line was breaking up. As much as the yellow ranger was growing on him, he had things to do.

This of course did not sit well with Dustin.

After five of such occurrences the curly-haired teen started to question his fellow rangers to see if their morphers were encountering the same technical difficulties that his had. Cam wasn't sure how that conversation ended, but he did know that it resulted in two _very_ unhappy red and blue rangers who felt more than obligated to share this displeasure with _him_.

And that was before his father had caught wind of it.

Now as team support he had to end his conversations with Dustin _politely_ and was disallowed to do this until a _reasonable_ period of time had passed. It was here that Cam learned that _his_ definition of reasonable and everyone else's definition vastly differed.

During one of these calls Dustin had told him with great enthusiasm that he was glad that Cam had managed to get that bug fixed.

" _It could've become a real problem dude."_

Cam had fought the urge to smash his monitor.

He sincerely hoped it was Tori.

"Cam here," he stated tersely, settling himself into his chair. Depending on who this was, he would have to get comfy.

"Cam, its Shane."

So this would be a brief call. His evening was still looking bright.

"We're all clear Shane, there's nothing new," he reported and patiently waited for the part where they stopped talking. His project was calling.

"Thanks, but that's not what I'm calling about."

So this wouldn't be a brief call.

"So what's wrong with Dustin?" Cam asked, looking longingly at his ray emitter (a few more adjustments and it would be ready for testing).

"Dude, how did you…never mind. Anyway, Dustin's on his way there, says he left his jacket."

So there went his evening.

"He didn't." If he had Cam would have returned it on Saturday.

"I know that, but he was very insistent."

"So what does he really want?"

"I'm not sure, but something was bothering him. Can you talk to him?"

_Aren't you his best friend?_

"I _can_ , and I will," the tech responded, pulling up the security cameras for the Ops.

"Whatever man, just try to be nice."

"Why ever would I not be?" he answered sarcastically before closing the line.

Just in time. A yellow blur streaked past his outdoor cameras and set off the motion detectors. Cam keyed those off and made his way out of the lab and into the main room just as Dustin finished descending the stairs, borrowed camera bag in hand. They stared at each other awkwardly before Dustin finally worked up the nerve to speak to him.

"Hey uh…can I… talk to you?" he asked, shuffling his feet, a nervous tick.

"Sure," Cam replied and motioned for him to follow down the hall.

If they were doing this, they were doing it in the sanctity of his lab.

Dustin followed him eagerly.

Instead of offering him a drink, or a seat, or whatever matter of comfort one would most probably offer when discussing things of a touchy-feeling matter (because that was what this mostly likely was) Cam grabbed a broom out of the utility closet and offered it to Dustin, trading the cleaning tool for his camera. This earned him a look of confusion.

"If you're going to be here, you're going to do something useful."

So he wasn't the best at being nice, but he couldn't stop himself from being practical. Dustin focused better when his hands were occupied. Also, they wouldn't have to maintain steady eye contact. Cam could admit he wasn't prepared for that kind of commitment.

Dustin nodded, showing he understood, and began sweeping, leaving Cam to resume working on his project. The tech found he wanted to be distracted too.

After a few minutes of not-completely-terrible working in silence Dustin decided to address his reason for coming. He did so in a rather round-about way.

"Can you fight Cam?"

Instead of dignifying that with a response, Cam waited for him to expand on this comment.

This turned out to be the right thing to do.

"Like, I know you grew up here but Sensei never let you-"

"Yes, I can fight Dustin."

There was expanding, and then there was rambling. If something was bothering the curly-haired teen, the rambling was just a guise.

"Oh," Dustin murmured, surprised by his interruption. "That's what I thought."

With that he went back to sweeping, so Cam went back to tinkering with his circuitry. They went back to their "comfortable" silence for a few minutes.

Cam was about to tell him to get to the point when Dustin continued.

"I was thinking maybe…" Dustin frowned at a particularly stubborn speck of lint that would not be swept up. "Maybe you should be a ranger."

Cam allowed himself a moment to take that in. After Flora Bendicus, dad had started training him, but Dustin didn't know about that. Or did he? Cam had underestimated Dustin before, maybe this was another one of those times. Did his training intimidate the yellow ranger?

"Like, maybe…maybe you should take my morpher," Dustin continued, refusing to make eye contact.

Now _that_ was another concept entirely.

"Dustin, you're the yellow ranger," Cam reminded, setting down his screwdriver. This would require his entire attention.

"I know dude, but why?" Dustin asked, finally looking at the tech.

_Is that a philosophical question?_

"What?"

"Why am I the yellow ranger?" The mechanic repeated, turning slightly away from him. "You're smarter, you're more reliable, and you're probably a better fighter. So why am _I_ the yellow ranger?"

_Hmm…_

Now what has happened recently that would make Dustin suddenly doubt his ranger capabilities?

"Is this about you getting sick?"

While it had been odd that Dustin had been the only one susceptible to getting a "cold", Cam hadn’t thought that would be enough to make him want to stop being a ranger.

"…kinda."

Then what was the rest of it?

It looked like they were going to go into yet another moment of silence, so Cam decided to prompt the other teen into speaking.

"Dustin, I'm still doing research about-"

"Look," Dustin cut in, taking the bait. "That's not like…the _entire_ reason,"

Cam nudged him on, "Then what is?"

There was a slight pause in the conversation while Dustin retrieved a dustpan from the closet and began to sweep up his many dirt piles. Instead of answering, he asked Cam another question.

"If I were dying, would you tell me you loved me?"

Were this anyone else Cam would demand that they get back to the conversation that they had started, immediately without dallying and _stay there_. But because this was Dustin, this off the wall comment was most likely relevant to the conversation. The question he was asking wasn't really the question he was asking, it was really something else and whatever it _really_ meant would help them work through this. Whatever _this_ was.

Dustin's earnest stare indicated that Cam was supposed to respond to this, so he decided to be as vague as he could. "What?"

That was the best he could do until he got a better feel for how he was supposed to respond.

"Like," Dustin continued, sweeping up another pile. "If I was in love with you…"

Cam knew it wasn't relevant but he had to ask, "You're in love with me?"

"No dude, that's gross," Dustin balked, crinkling his nose. "But hypothetically, if I _was_ in love with you and I was dying, would you tell me you loved me, even if you didn't?"

For once Cam didn't know the answer. He wasn't sure what Dustin was looking for. Did he want comfort? Did he want the truth? The tech had a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right. Cam opted for the comfort route, assuming Dustin was looking for affirmation in his position in their lives.

"…Yes, I suppose."

"Hah, I knew it!" Dustin exclaimed, dropping his broom as he waved his arms wildly.

So yes had been the wrong answer.

Then again, they both could have been wrong answers.

"Knew what, all you proved was that-?"

"Was that you're a _liar_!" Dustin declared, jabbing a finger at Cam's chest. 

And for once in their very brief time of interacting with each other, the tech got to see a glimpse of what Dustin looked like underneath the smiles, a taste of the true Dustin.

The Dustin that had been lied to.

"What?" Cam prodded, honestly with disbelief.

Dustin turned and walked away, bringing his hands behind his head. "And if you'd lie about that…"

So that was what this was about.

"You said this was hypothetical," Cam reminded him, willing Dustin to turn back around.

The yellow ranger stared at his shoes instead.

"Do you think we're lying to you?" the bespectacled teen continued, cutting to the core of the matter.

There was a moment of stillness.

"…are you?" the yellow ranger asked, distraught.

He thought that they were humoring him, that they simply tolerated him being around.

He didn't know how genuinely _good_ a person he was.

"No. We wouldn't do that."

"Even if the fate of the world was on the line?" he asked, spinning back around to face Cam, arms tense at his sides.

"I'm not a liar Dustin."

He would stand his ground, because while he may be grumpy, he _wasn't_ a liar.

"You would be if I was dying." Dustin spat out bitterly, bending down to pick up the discarded broom.

"That's different!"

"How much?" he asked, hands tightening around the handle. "I know what you're thinking, _'Oh hey, let's keep the dumb guy happy so he'll keep saving the world',_ that's what you think when I call you, don't you?"

Cam stepped back as though he had been slapped, then cursed himself for his arrogance. He had been a fool to think Dustin hadn't noticed that.

But he couldn't fix the past; he could only fix what was happening now.

That was his job after all.

"You're not dumb Dustin," he reminded, eyes firmly locked to Dustin's.

They lit up with anger.

"Hey!" the brunette yelled, giving Cam a look of betrayal. "Don't…don't do that. I know I'm-"

"You lack focus," Cam interrupted. "You don't always concentrate, but you're not dumb."

With that statement, Dustin's shoulders slumped.  Visibly, some of the fight came out of him.

"There's a difference?" he asked, voice quiet.

"A vast one," Cam muttered, watching as Dustin went back to viewing his shoes.

Shaky hands raked through Dustin's hair. "So…I'm not…"

"No, you're not." Cam reiterated. "Take it from a 'smart' person."

Cam waited for Dustin to look at him before he murmured. "You just think differently."

"Oh," the other teen whispered, face disbelieving.

_Is it so hard to believe you're likeable?_

Cam wanted…he didn't know why, but he wanted to find whoever had done this to Dustin and beat them to a pulp. Just...tear them to shreds. There was something about Dustin that just made you want to protect him.

Now he knew why Shane and Tori did it all the time.

Speaking of which…

"You should know that Shane and Tori care about you a lot Dustin. They're not just tolerating you." And then he added, "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way."

"…oh," the yellow ranger echoed again, setting the broom against the wall. He leaned against it a moment, gathering his strength.

In all this Cam had forgotten that just yesterday Dustin had been sick. He was probably exhausted right now.

"I'm sorry I bothered you," Dustin choked out before he shoved his hands in his pockets and began to make his way to the door, kicking his feet as he went.

Cam knew he might regret this but…

"Wait," Cam said, watching as Dustin looked back at him confused. "…you can stay if you want."

The sad eyes he got in return made him feel like a real tool.

"I don't want to bother you," Dustin replied dejectedly, moving back towards the door.

"You wouldn't be a bother," he coaxed, hoping the other teen would turn around.

He did, and Dustin's face lit up in a huge smile. That was all the warning Cam got before he had his arms full of Dustin, back to his normal self.

Good, because brooding Dustin was not the greatest of company.

He would know from brooding-Cam.

"But," the tech wheezed, as Dustin seemed intent on making sure he couldn't breathe. "You have to finish sweeping."

"No problem dude," Dustin blurted before quickly, releasing Cam and snatching up the broom, eagerly returning to his work.

Okay, so it wasn't how most people "hung out", but they weren't most people, and it worked for them. Besides, Cam would be much more open to Dustin's rambles if things were still getting done.

And this way he could make sure Dustin got home safely.

He would tell Shane what happened later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	4. Friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after "Snip it, Snip it Good". 
> 
> (The one where Shane and Dustin beat each other up, and Tori goes on some spirit quest).

Dustin was in love with Leonard. Cam had no doubt of that. The moment they had ended their mission debriefing the mechanic had attached himself to the front of the frog’s tank, poking at it incessantly in an attempt to evoke a reaction from the amphibian. Assuming it was a him. Cam hadn't bothered trying to look up what kind of species it was therefore was unable to determine its gender. It wasn't like it mattered; male frogs and female frogs ate the same thing.

The tech almost regretted leaving Leonard out in the main room of Ninja Ops.

He was beginning to think that this may have been a better gift for Dustin than for _him_ , seeing as the yellow ranger took it upon himself to come over and feed Leonard almost every night. It was ironic that Cam's responsibility for animal caretaking had been questioned considering his father's current condition. Still, his floors got swept every night, so he wasn't complaining. He might start inviting Dustin over on the weekends; see if he could make the brunette dust. Cam hated dusting. He felt his skills could be put to much better (and intellectually demanding) use.

Presently, Cam was speaking with Tori about her trip, her deeper connections with her element (it was a good thing she had been the one chosen because the other two imbeciles would have never figured it out) and her clever way of outfoxing Marah and Kapri. Not that this was a terribly difficult task to complete but it made Tori feel accomplished, so he listened patiently. It was only with half an ear though. The other half he reserved for the remaining rangers congregated around Leonard’s tank, discussing plans. It was Thursday, a school night. They should be studying and on a normal day Cam would feel obligated to bully them into going home. However, the repeated blows to Dustin's head altered that notion. It was possible that the yellow ranger had a mild concussion.  Because of his, he needed to be monitored.

It might as well be by someone he liked.

Cam had done a brief check up on the earth ninja as soon as they had returned to Ninja Ops, but Dustin was insistent that he had merely obtained a mild headache and that Tylenol would take care of it. It was unfortunate that many of the symptoms of a concussion coincided with Dustin's natural state of being. With Shane as the one dutifully watching, he would be able to determine any deviations if they occurred.

"So, movie night?" Dustin said, still focusing on Leonard. His patience was rewarded with a hop (not of his provocation, just be clear) and Cam could clearly see the other teen mouth the word _"cool"_ before going back and repeating the entire process.

His fascination was unwarranted.  Frogs hopped; it wasn't exactly a revelation.

"Sure dude, I've got this new one that's just _awful_ ," Shane replied, watching Dustin with an intensity that mirrored the yellow ranger's focus on Leonard. Cam wondered how guilty Shane felt about beating the tar out of Dustin. The very nature of their relationship cemented him as a protector, caretaker, defender.

How did it feel when all that was stripped away?

"But in a good way, right?" Dustin took a moment to look at Shane.  Simultaneously, he made the decision to go ahead and feed Leonard. He never bothered asking.

Cam used to think he wasn't as big a push-over as Shane.

Dustin appeared to be fine, but then again Dustin _always_ appeared to be fine until he reached his breaking point, a habit that he had sadly conditioned himself into. It was another reason Cam never bothered to nag him about Leonard, the frog (as far as Dustin was concerned) appeared to be almost therapeutic in nature. Still, the tech sincerely hoped Dustin didn't fall into another state of disillusionment. It probably wouldn't happen, but he would give Shane a heads up just in case.

Cam would also have to address Monday night's conversation, as oddly enough, that had yet to happen.

"What other kind of bad is there?" Shane replied cheekily, leaning against the table.

The bad kind of bad. It was assumed from the connotation of the word.

"Sweet. Let's jet," Dustin said, finished with his frog-associated duties.

Shane paused for a moment.  "You go ahead man, I need to wrap some things up," he countered, briefly flicking his gaze over to Cam, knowing full well the tech was listening.

Good, he wanted to do this now.

"Okay, I'll get snacks!" Dustin rocked back on his heels, pleased. He stopped suddenly and placed a hand on his head, dizzy from his misguided actions. Perhaps Cam _should_ make him stay the night for observation anyway, or send him to a hospital, regardless of his feelings on the matter.

It seemed Shane was on the same wavelength and moved to steady the yellow-clad teen but Dustin simply waved him off, asserting he was fine.

Shane would take care of him, Cam wasn't worried about that.

The leader nodded and made his way over to the tech, motioning for Tori to go ahead without him. The red ranger sent her a look that was regularly practiced between the two of them that openly said _"take care of him."_ She nodded to show her understanding and ushered Dustin out the door, keeping her arm firmly wrapped around his. There was no doubt in Cam's mind that some day, he would grow to perfect this look as well.

Without bothering to gesture or speak Cam turned and walked to his lab, Shane shadowing his movements. He didn't bother grabbing a broom for this particular conversation, it needed to be brief, and he doubted that would fly with Shane.

He opted to start.

"If it gets worse bring him back immediately, don't-"

"I know," Shane interrupted, looking slightly peeved. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

Cam wasn't one to lose his cool and faced the red ranger, expression unchanged. He had a lot more practice at playing hardball.

"Allow me the privilege of addressing my concerns," he murmured coldly, standing his ground.

Shane glared at him, crossed his arms over his chest and grunted, "Can we get to the point?"

"Fine."

Shane nodded and began his prosecution, "What was wrong?"

He was, of course, referring to Monday, but Cam couldn't help but pick at him.

"Now or-"

"Playing cute's not really your style," the other teen ground out, losing his patience.

Cam took a breath and tried to collect himself, for Dustin's sake. He hadn't set out to goad the red ranger but the air ninja made it _so_ tempting. There was just something about Shane that drove him, for lack of better word, "nuts".

But now was not a good time to give into that.

"He was insecure about his placement on the team," the tech admitted, waiting for the red ranger's reaction. It was exactly what he expected it to be.

The guilty look was back, though unwarranted. It was unrealistic for the red ranger to assume he could protect Dustin from everything, including his own doubts. Sometimes these things just happened.

"He also thought we might be lying to him." Before Shane could break in Cam continued, "But its okay, we talked it out."

"It was partially my fault, anyway," he finished, keeping his eyes locked on Shane's. He didn't miss the look of _hurt_ that flashed up at his words.

Shane endeavored to not let it show. "What made him feel-?"

"He didn't explain that part." Cam waved his hand absently. "He thought we might be tolerating him because he is a ranger. I let him know that wasn't the case."

Shane turned away from him slightly, his hardened façade crumbling before it dropped away completely. He turned and leaned both arms against one of the tables, head tilting towards the ground.

"Why you?" he mumbled, loud enough for Cam to know it wasn't rhetorical.

"I think he wanted what he believed to be an impartial opinion," Cam noted, taking a few steps forward. He might not be able to be there for Shane emotionally, but he could at least venture to be there for the other teen physically. To offer his presence was the least he could do.

"What are you saying?" Shane looked back at him.

"You're too close," Cam said, stopping as he reached Shane's side. He turned so that his back was to the table and crossed his arms. "He was afraid that the intimacy of your relationship would affect your response."

Shane looked away again, scratching his head uncomfortably. "We're not _that_ close."

"Where are you going after this?" Cam asked, knowing full well the ranger’s future location.

"Dustin's, but-" Shane started, as though he wouldn't go there on a normal day.

Who was he kidding?

"Even if he hadn't gotten the head injury, you probably would still go there, right?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"But nothing, you're best friends," Cam said (why should he have to explain this?). "He just wanted the opinion of an outsider; someone who he thought had nothing to lose.  Now get out of here and go check on Dustin," he grumbled, waving Shane out the door before turning to seclude himself to his world of electronics.

"Hey Cam."

He heard the voice from behind him, and in the next moment Shane's hand was on his shoulder, squeezing it tight. "You're only an outsider if you let yourself be one."

"Did you read that in a fortune cookie?" Cam spat sarcastically, refusing to turn around.

He didn't know what would happen if he turned around, and that bothered him.

"I'm serious," Shane urged, taking the choice out of Cam's hands by circling around him. Something clicked in his eyes. "You should come with me."

"No, I'm good," Cam said quickly, pushing Shane's arm off.

The red ranger didn't take the hint.

"No, you're not," the air ninja insisted, cutting in front of Cam, blocking him from his computer. "You want in, there's no better chance then right now."

That was true, but still-

"I'm not going to interrupt your little male bonding ritual."

"You know he'd love it if you'd come."

Why? Cam had barely been nice to Dustin.

Cam searched his mind quickly for an excuse, folding his arms across his chest to buy time.

"…I have a cough," he stated weakly.

Shane’s response was to look at him with an _"Oh no you don't"_ face that made Cam feel like he was five again.

"Tough it out, you're going," Shane ordered, grabbing his arm.

Oddly enough, Cam wasn't immensely bothered by this.

Weird.

“…Fine, but I'm driving," Cam sighed, then allowed himself to be pulled out of Ninja Ops.

He wasn't sure how his father did it, but despite his form he still managed to convey a look of genuine amusement on his guinea pig face as he viewed the proceedings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time


	5. Where are you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during "Return of Thunder Part 1".

Shane hadn't noticed it before he had become a ranger but Blue Bay Harbor had a _lot_ of abandoned factories. They weren't necessarily all factories, but they _were_ deserted and they attracted Lothor's monsters like flies to honey. Whatever the reasoning behind this phenomenon, it worked for Shane. Less people nearby meant that they could focus all their attention on the monster instead of making sure civilians got away safely without getting injured.

The rangers kept their backs to one another, each scanning a different area. Everyone who had been here had left and it looked like the monster had gone with them…which was odd. No, it couldn't have left. The snail had attacked those people to draw them out. It must be hiding in order to wait for the most opportune moment to attack.

There were two options then. Option number one, they could split up and flush it out, or option number two, they could sit and wait for it to go on the offensive. Both had their advantages.

Snail man decided to take the choice out of Shane's hands by throwing another option on the table, i.e., his option, the one Shane _hadn't_ known about. The entire factory filled with fog, flushing through pipes and passageways before it descended on the rangers with vengeful glee. It literally attacked them, hurling them in separate directions. As soon as it hit them Shane lost visual contact with Tori and Dustin, something he _would_ have worried about but he had bigger problems to deal with as the fog assaulted him, sparking on contact and throwing him into what felt like a metal wall. The shouts he heard from his teammates indicated that the same thing had happened to them as well. Unfortunately, the red ranger couldn't tell where the shouts were coming from and he _still_ hadn't seen any sign of that evil Snail.

It was just one of those days.

"Cam, where are the others?"

The tech _might_ have better luck than Shan did, but then again, this fog could be nastier than he thought.

A frustrated sigh confirmed his theory. " _I can't get a fix on them, that fog must be doing something to my sensors_."

Shane couldn't blame him for his bad mood.

"How about the bad guy?"

If Cam couldn't even find the rangers, odds were he wouldn't be able to find their bad guy either, but it didn't hurt to ask.

Shane wouldn't be a very good leader if he didn't.

" _Same problem_."

The red ranger would bet anything that Cam would evil-fog proof everything as soon as he was able, if there was a way to do such a thing. If there wasn't, the tech would just invent a way, and _then_ proof everything.

It must be really tiring to be Cam.

_Damn_ , Shane was still stuck to the wall. He didn't really have any other options. If he went blindly wandering out there he would be walking right into the enemy's hands. There could have anything out there, maybe a trap, or maybe Shane would just get thrown into something else. First things first, the skater needed to get rid of the fog.

Luckily, he had the power of air on his side.

Unluckily, that was the _exact_ moment something dropped on him from above.

A shout of, "Eat this snail man!" was his only warning Shane got before Dustin tackled him from above, effectively shoving the red ranger to the ground.

Shane had to hand it to him, if Dustin had actually hit the snail guy it probably would have been a good attack.

"…oops," the yellow ranger murmured, embarrassed when he saw who he had hit.  Quickly, Dusin rolled off his teammate before grabbing his arm and hauling him to his feet.

With a groan, Shane stood, clutching his ribs.  That would hurt later.

"Sorry man, I thought you were..."

Shane waved him off, knowing full well what Dustin thought.

How high had Dustin been thrown?

Whatever, it was irrelevant, Dustin's shouts were sure to attract something and whether it was another fog attack or their missing snail Shane didn't want to find out. With his left hand he grabbed the yellow ranger's arm and began pulling him along, the air ninja using his right hand to guide them along the wall to their side.

The wall turned out to be a giant cylinder, and Shane followed the curve about halfway around before asked, "Do you have any idea where Tori is?"

Dustin shook his head no, waving away some of the fog from his face. "No, I was hoping you would-"

Suddenly the brunette was thrown forward into Shane by an unseen force. The red ranger grabbed onto him and held tight, not wanting to get separated again. Reuniting had been painful enough the first time; he would do without another round of _that_.

Instead of the ground they were knocked into what Shane assumed was another tank.

_Alright,_ Shane though. _Enough of this._

It was time to take action.

Keeping one of his arms locked around Dustin (just in case), Shane held up his other and focused all his energy before yelling, "Power of air!"

A gust of wind blew through the factory pushing away all that nasty fog and for the moment, everything was clear. About 15 feet away Shane could see Tori stumbling out of a building clutching her head, to her left was a large newly shattered window. That must have been what she had gotten thrown through; Shane hadn't even heard the glass break.

Man, this fog was _good_.

But they were better. They were going to find this guy, beat him down, and be done with mission debriefing before dinner. As long as they stopped him from using his fog again, they would be fine.

Shane’s thoughts were cut off by a familiar laugh, signaling to Shane that they were dealing with more than one enemy.

Okay, this would take longer than he had originally planned.

"Getting cozy with your boy toy?" the crimson ranger taunted from his position on a catwalk high above them.

Shane fought to ignore the anger that flared up at that comment. They weren't toys and he wouldn't give them the pleasure of rising to their bait. If Blake and Hunter wanted to be evil that was just _fine_ , but Shane wasn't going to play their silly games. He was better than that. Instead he focused on scanning Dustin's body for injuries as he stood back in fighting position, then moved on to checking Tori over whenever she made her way to the other two rangers.

Both appeared to be fine, but Shane would have Cam do a better check up whenever they wrapped this business up.

With that in mind, Shane quickly got back to the matter at hand.

"You wanna fight?" he yelled, pulling his sword from his sheath. "Then let's fight!"

"I thought you would never ask," Navy mocked before pulling out his pincers and jumping down to meet them. Crimson followed in suit and grabbed his staff, preparing for battle.

At this point, Shane wasn’t going to bother reasoning with them. If they wanted to attack, there wasn't much he could do to change their minds. All he could do was stop them before they hurt anyone else or themselves. That was all.

Tori could nag at him for his command decisions later.

Blake rushed at him with the pincers, forcing Shane to jump back to avoid the weapon. Internally he grumbled, he had wanted to get Hunter for that _"boy toy"_ crack he made earlier.

"Sorry we couldn't give you some more alone time," Navy pushed, humor clear in his voice. "But I thought I was about to lose my lunch."

Shane had to remind himself that Blake's goal was to make him angry so that he would lose focus. He couldn't just give in to the desire to smash the other ranger’s puny face in.

Even if it was very tempting.

They exchanged blows back and forth; Shane stuck on the defensive, never being fast enough to get in more than a few hits. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Tori and Dustin didn't fare much better against the crimson ranger.

"Hunter didn't mind though," Blake continued, ignoring his silence. "I think he might have a thing for your yellow guy."

Shane didn't care; the other ranger was just trying to make him mad. That was all this was. The moment he lost focus his face was going to meet yet another wall. Or the ground. He just had to think of this as a test of will.

"Too bad he's on your team," Blake murmured gleefully, blocking Shane’s kick and sweeping his leg underneath the red ranger, knocking him to the ground. The air ninja rolled away before Navy brought his leg down again and moved, quickly pushing himself back into a fighting stance. "Then again,” Blake continued. “Maybe we could make him an offer, get him to switch sides."

Like Dustin would ever go with them.

"Or," the other ranger continued.  "Maybe we could just trick him into it. He's been dumb enough to do that before."

He allowed the red ranger a second to process his jibe, and Shane could tell Blake was enjoying every minute of this. The Bradley brother knew, he _knew_ that would be the straw that broke the camel’s back and Shane-

Shane saw red. Disregarding everything he had reminded himself of earlier he threw himself at Blake.

While the other ranger had skill he hadn't taken into account Shane's pure ferocity and was unprepared for the tackle that followed. Shane knocked him to the ground and punched him in the stomach before the younger thunder brother could recover. The red ranger felt a wave of satisfaction course through him as he heard Blake's _"omf"_ of pain. It was short lived when Hunter (who had probably watched this occur in disbelief) blasted Shane with lightening, flinging him off his brother.

Dustin and Tori ran to flank their leader’s sides as he rolled to his feet, glaring at Blake and cursing himself. Everything Blake had said was probably a lie, made up specifically with him in mind, and he had fallen for it.

Still, he got one good hit in.

If Shane’s luck held up, maybe he would get in another one.

_Hey, if it's a fight they want, it's a fight they get._

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

What?

What just happened? _Something_ had just happened - a trivial comment obviously because that was the inherent function of the universe. Something happened; then something else happened, and then something _else_ proceeded to happen, but that wasn't the point Cam was trying to make here. The point was that something had just (in this past second) occurred (and despite the fact that the major function of Cam’s job was to monitor what was going on he had _missed_ it) that had made not only the Wind Rangers; but the Thunder Rangers disappear into thin air as though they never existed, and neither his computer, his father, nor his eyes could tell him any different. They had simply ceased to be. One instant they were fighting, the next instant, nothingness.

If Cam wasn't so busy being worried he would have thrown something across the room out of frustration.

His scanners did nothing except supply the data he _already_ knew indicating that there was no one piloting the zords. Of course there were pilots, they just weren't there!

The question then was where were they? Where had they gone? And, most importantly, how could Cam get them back?

They never should have trusted those Thunder brothers; Tori could say whatever she wanted if that brought her any comfort, but those two were nothing but nuisances. First of all they were dumb enough to trust the word of an evil space ninja (because really, did the title "evil space ninja" inspire trust?), and second, they went out of their way to completely total the only people who were _fighting_ said evil space ninja, who (as mentioned above), was dead set on fulfilling the "evil" part of his title. Lastly, they had actually managed to not only hurt the Wind Rangers, but trash their weapons, weapons on which _Cam_ had spent a great deal of time and effort.

Wind rangers who- _good_ people who Cam might have become just a _tiny_ bit fond of.

Were they on drugs? What had happened to them? First they were attacking Lothor, or that was the story they sold to Tori, and then the next thing he knew they were back to their favorite pastime _"let's destroy the good guys!"._

Cam needed to spend less time with Dustin. Or more time reading, either would work.

The tech attempted to ignore the churning in his stomach at the thought of the yellow ranger. Then he attempted to ignore that Dustin had affected his physical being in any form.

He failed in both efforts.

Cam had failed him. He had failed _all_ of them. His one lousy job was to monitor and provide support while they were in the field and supply whatever they needed, whenever they might need it. He was to coordinate, inform, and regulate the rangers and he was currently unable to fulfill that duty, rendering him worthless. Dustin always looked to him to be the smart one, but he wasn't all that cracked up to it, was he? Couldn't even fill his own shoes.

Frowning, Cam keyed in some more data to widen up his search options. He stared at the monitor intensely, waiting. The screen remained stubbornly blank. He smacked the table in frustration, his keyboard jolted from the intensity of the hit.

What had they done to them? They had done _something_. Were they jetted away into an alternate dimension? Did they get teleported to another planet? Did Lothor actually manage to capture them? What happened?

And why couldn't he find them?

Cam whipped his hands away from the keyboard and shoved them into his lap, slowly intertwining his fingers as he exhaled. He folded his legs onto his chair Lotus style and closed his eyes, deeply inhaling through his nose before slowly exhaling through his mouth once more.

Blaming himself wasn't getting him anywhere, and neither was worrying. He needed to clear his mind, free it of all the emotions that were distracting him from doing his job. He needed a fresh slate.

Cam took his time, making sure to do everything right so that he could begin to function properly again.

_How did it come to this?_

He never thought…it sounded so _cold_ in retrospect, but he never thought he would ever come to care about these rangers enough for him to get like this. He had always meant to keep a wall of professionalism between them, to remain emotionally disengaged, but somehow they had wormed (and it was Dustin that started it) their way under his skin and were driving him crazy.

They were family now.

And he just wanted them safe.

Inhale

_Focus_

Exhale

_Focus_

Inhale

_om mani padme hum_

Exhale

_om mani padme hum_

The tech continued his mental chanting until he felt a semblance of peace return. Cam persisted with his slow breathing but slowly opened his eyes; readjusting to the gentle glow of his monitor, the core of his work displayed before him, balancing in between reality and mental construct.

There was nothing, no anger, no frustration, simply himself and his work. Speaking of which, that was something he needed to get back to. He withdrew his hands from his lap and unfolded his legs, feeling purified, at least in mind. Now, _now_ he would focus on the momentous task before him. Locate the rangers, reestablish communication, get them back. He would not stop until he achieved this goal.

Cam quickly went back to work on his computer, accessing new methods to widen his search. Calm as he was, and as smart as he was, and knowing that he needed desperately to stay calm, he couldn't help but feel the slightest tinge of worry in the back of his mind.

Whatever might have happened to them...to his _friends_ …he hoped they weren't hurt.

He didn't know what he would do if they got hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time ;)


	6. I Can't Do It Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during "Boxing Bopp a Roo", after the events of Toxipod's island.

It was official (not that it needed to be because when it was unofficial it was still pretty cool), they were winners. They couldn't help it; it was simply their natural state of being.

In Dustin's opinion, that was pretty awesome.

After much deliberation (though the yellow ranger could have told them it was completely unnecessary), and all of them getting sucked onto an evil island and the Thunder rangers getting turned evil, and then turned good, and then Hunter turned evil _and_ good, and then Cam finding them, and _then_ yet _another_ attack from Choobo (who seemed to really have it out for them), Hunter and Blake had finally come around and agreed to join their team, allowing Dustin to finally utter the "I told you so" he had been saving for Shane (not that his friend had doubted him, he just really wanted to say "I told you so").

Dustin, for one, was glad. Not only would they be stronger, they totally wouldn't have to stress as much when they were fighting because if three rangers were winners, then five rangers would be supreme winning winners of winnington, or something along those lines. And Tori (she hadn't said this but the earth ninja knew) was super happy about it too because she got to spend more time with Blake. Dustin had tried to tease her about that but was silenced when she gave him the evil eye and raised her hand threateningly.

Hey, she hit hard, and a little teasing was not worth _that_.

Sensei, from what Dustin could gather, was happy about the _idea_ of the Wind and Thunder rangers working together because he was old and that was what he appreciated, and Cam was happy about the added firepower. That, Dustin didn't have to guess at because the green-loving teen had told him during his first nightly visit after the team up had become official.

Blake, as far as Dustin could tell, was happy for the same reason Tori was, and Dustin wasn't going to tease _him_ about it because, well…midgets were mean. And it would probably get back to Tori anyway, so he would be in for twice the pain.

The only people who didn't seem happy with the arrangement were Shane and Hunter.

The "added firepower" (to use Cam's words) they were all for; in fact they seemed to do okay with just about everybody.

Except of course, each other.

Tori said it was an alpha male thing, that they were having issues giving up their authority because they had both been "in charge" (Tori' was the one that used the air quotations, _he_ had thought Shane was in charge) of their "respective teams". (Dustin added air quotes to that last part because he hadn't known what respective meant until a few days ago, when he bugged Cam to tell him.)

Right.

It became pretty obvious during training that the two red rangers had issues dealing with each other, and Sensei decided (though _why_ was beyond Dustin) to split them apart from the rest of the team and let them duke it out until they respected each other or something. Like, beat out their feelings. They started doing this a week ago and as far as Dustin knew, it hadn't worked (unless the goal was to get ridiculous amounts of bruising), and try as he might (and he'd tried pretty hard) he couldn't get Shane to talk about it.

So basically the team was stuck until the reds could work out their differences.

Cam tried to point out that teamwork was something that kindergartners had mastered and suggested that they go find two of _them_ to save the world until Shane and Hunter felt like growing up.  While it would be kind of amusing/cute to have two six year old rangers running around (they would be like mini-me’s), like Sensei's "beat it out" plan, Dustin thought it was a bad idea. When he informed Cam of this the other teen had simply raised an eyebrow and told the brunette he had been joking. Which in retrospect, made a lot more sense. You'd think Dustin would be better at picking up on those kinds of things by now.

Anyway, Dustin had defended Shane; the skater wasn't doing it on purpose (Dustin thought) but ever since the whole island thing Shane just _did not_ like Hunter. The brunette had thought that _maybe_ with the excitement of Kelly's Total Trek ( _he_ had been psyched and he couldn't even participate) both Shane and Hunter would get distracted and focus on that instead. If it weren't for the skateboard section Dustin would totally own this contest, but he wasn't going to try _that_ again anytime soon.

In a way his hypothesis had been right. Except instead of working _together_ they had decided to use the Total Trek as another way to compete with each other to further draw out their alpha male fighting issues.

And Dustin had been hoping that Shane would team up with him for the partner competition too.

Well, so much for that.

The earth ninja was currently at the track, attempting to teach Shane what he needed to know to at least _stay_ on the bike during the motocross section of the Trek. Shane (he would never understand it) seemed to have issues when dealing with dirt bikes. Put him on a Tsunami cycle and throw a bunch of Kelzaks in the way he could ride for hours one handed, blasting away with his free hand and kicking stray enemies out of the way easily. But bring him to the track, unmorphed, on a regular bike and it was a recipe for disaster.

So despite the fact Dustin was pretty sure Shane wasn't going to get far he agreed to coach the other teen, not that the red ranger could learn how to ride in the short amount of time they had (the Trek was in four days). But this was Shane, who Dustin would do just about anything for, so here he was, lecturing away even though his friend wasn't listening.

Probably thinking about Hunter.

He should be focusing on _him_ dagnabit.

Dustin sighed and waved Shane off as he surged forward on the bike, hoping he would at least make a lap if anything else.

_Come on._

_Come on._

**_Come on._ **

…

Nertz.

His hope was for nothing, as his friend crashed into a bale of hay before he even made it to the track. _Maybe_ if Shane had paid attention he wouldn't be eating dirt right now.

Or hay.

And the bike wouldn't be either.

… _hm_

Who was he kidding; Shane just didn't have a knack for this.

With a wince Dustin raced forward to check on his friend, and more importantly the bike.

Okay, so it was mostly to check on Shane.

Mostly.

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

After failed attempt number twelve (which had been slightly better than failed attempt number seven, which had been _awful,_ and slightly worse than failed attempt number four where Shane managed to stay on the track for a total of four seconds which was, so far, his longest running time _)_ Dustin suggested (insisted) they take a water break so that Shane could rest his body and so _Dustin_ could fix the bike. And to be honest, he was getting a little tired of watching Shane run into stationary objects. Sure, it was funny when it was on TV and it was somebody you didn't know, but this was his best friend, and _he_ was the one who was going to have to fix all the bike damage when this was over. It would be best if Shane just cut his losses now.

The curly-haired teen decided to bring this up casually.

Dustin wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, staring off into the distance (he'd seen Hunter do it a few times) for added effect (coolness) before breaking the silence. "You know if you-"

"No," Shane replied, cutting him off completely.

He hadn't even said anything. Not really.

Dustin stared at him, eyebrows furrowed. "I didn't even-"

"No," Shane interrupted again, staring at him hard.

Now he was just being stubborn. For all he knew Dustin could be trying to give him really helpful information.

Dustin kept his cool and reached forward to squeeze his arm. "Oh, come on-"

"No," Shane broke in, waving his water bottle. "If Hunter can do it, I can do it."

_Oh really, because the past hour would prove differently_.

Dustin told it like it was. "I'm all for the power of believing man, but you really suck at this."

He was just trying to be honest.

Shane glared at him coldly in return and said nothing.

Dustin wilted after a few minutes under his stare. "Its _true,_ " he admitted, gesturing towards Shane's mud-covered track suit. He was becoming very intimate with the ground lately.

"Thanks for the support," Shane growled, looking away from Dustin again and taking another chug from his water bottle. So he was frustrated, big deal. If he would just let Dustin _help_ they could all be hunky dory right now and be at home playing video games or something instead of thinking about how much it was going to cost to fix the bike.  Or at least, Dustin could.

"Look," Dustin started, moving to get in front of Shane. "We could just do the team thing and then-"

" _No_ ," Shane barked.

If Dustin didn't know better he would think it was Shane’s new favorite word. He didn't know why the idea of working with him was so unappealing.

"I'm just thinking about all the other innocent bales of hay," Dustin insisted, trying to lighten the mood.

Shane didn't feel like cooperating. "They'll be _fine,"_ he groused, tossing the empty water bottle into the bag behind him without looking.

Why couldn't the Total Trek have that? _That_ he could do.

It figured.

Being subtle (as Dustin could be) hadn't worked. Being insistent hadn't worked and being humorous (which was something Dustin was really good at) hadn't worked, so he would have to go to his last resort and try to be… _logical._

Using logic to win an argument was weird, no matter what you said.

Dustin sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Let's be realistic here-"

Shane interrupted, yet again. "You're spending too much time with Cam."

_What?_

Dustin hadn't even managed to get an argument out. Unless "realistic" was an argument in itself, and last time Dustin checked, it wasn't.

"I am not!" he shouted, even though he wasn't sure why.

Like, how much was too much, and what did it have to do with the conversation, and if Shane was mad at Hunter why was he taking it out on _Dustin?_ He was just trying to help.

"Whatever," Shane muttered with surprising fierceness.

Dustin stepped back as though he had been slapped, staring at his friend in wonder.

_That_ was the last straw.

Shane seemed to sense he had crossed a line and sighed, shoulders slumping before looking back at him.  "…I'm sorry."

"Whatever," Dustin bit out, mimicking the red ranger’s previous tone and grabbing his gear off of the ground. He wasn't going to stick around to be a punching bag for Shane's issues. If he wanted to listen to people berate him he would visit the jocks at school.

"Dustin-" Shane began, calling after him

It was the yellow ranger's turn to cut him off.  "Good luck riding. You can ask Tori for help."

Even if she had crashed his bike, she at least made it _onto_ the course.

"Dustin!" Shane shouted again, beginning to trail after him.

Dustin simply glared at the other teen over his shoulder, freezing him in his place.  "Later bro."

Maybe he would go and spend more time with Cam. Or better yet, Hunter. That would really grind Shane's gears.

Gears…like a robot.

Dustin wondered if Cam could do the robot. He was good at like, everything. It would make sense.

_Well, only one way to find out._

Putting a smile on his face, Dustin began the run to Ninja Ops, preparing to make the most of the rest of his day off. It wouldn't all be a waste.

He tried to push away the bitter feeling in his stomach.

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

Shane stared at his friend's retreating back, cursing himself for his anger. He _never_ shouted at Dustin, not really, but he was just so frustrated lately.

"Nuts," he muttered to himself, tossing his helmet aside.

There wouldn't be any more riding today.

He sighed again.

They had finally gotten their team working well together, like, _really_ well. He didn't have to worry about them when they went into a fight because he _knew_ they would come out of it fine. He thought the addition of the Thunder Rangers would help them, and they had, but Hunter didn't feel like cooperating and now he had to go through _this_ to prove who was in charge and now Dustin…

Shane sighed again, whacking the side of his head. Maybe he could smack the stupid away.

He bent over and zipped up his bag, packing up all his gear. Shane would hit the Skate park; doing something he was good at would clear his head. He slung the bag over his back and began pushing the bike back to equipment van.

"…I'm blaming Hunter," he mumbled to himself in an attempt to lift his spirits.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the heart to mean it.

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

"You really suck at this."

_Yes Blake,_ ** _thank you_** _, I had_ ** _thought_** _the goal was to see how many times I could smash my face into the ground, thank_ ** _goodness_** _for your input or I would have dared to continue thinking I was_ ** _awesome_**.

And while Hunter _really_ wanted to voice this pleasant train of thought he knew better than to take out his frustrations on his brother. It was _Shane's_ fault he was doing this anyway, not Blake's. If he was going to give anyone a major tongue-lashing it would be _that_ ego-driven moron.

The crimson ranger collected his board and tried to think about what he had done wrong (aside from climbing on the stupid board in the first place) and Blake moseyed up beside him, looking far too pleased at his brother's difficulties. Okay, Hunter got it, his brother was really happy he got his girlfriend back, big whoop. There was no need to rub his satisfaction in Hunter's face. At least, not now. He'd be all for it later.

"Seriously," Blake continued, smirking as Hunter rubbed the small of his back (damn… _freaking_ board), "I think you're becoming a danger to everyone here."

Hunter willed his glare to somehow injure Blake.

His brother remained unimpressed.

"You're _really_ bad at this," he repeated, as though Hunter hadn't heard him the first time. The blond waved him off and lined up his next…movement, thingy. Alright, he was really just hoping to stay on the board for farther than ten feet. He was a freaking thunder ninja, years of training, hard work, dedication. He should be able to handle staying _on_ a _freaking_ ** _board_**.

Five seconds later he was back to blinking up at the sky, and his brother's legs slowly walked into view, probably staring wistfully at his free-rolling skateboard, continuing off in the distance.

This was all Shane's fault. Hunter had been all for joining forces. Yeah, he wasn't exactly the sociable type but this was basic logic. They were strong apart, they'd be stronger together, then they'd have a better shot at beating Lothor. Everybody wins. Hunter didn't exactly _like_ it, would prefer just handling it with Blake, but _not_ joining teams would just be stubborn and inefficient. With their combined powers they'd be able to do way more damage. Hunter had begrudgingly accepted this. Had accepted the fact he would have to become used to/tolerate/maybe even _befriend_ these people. He had even mentally prepared himself before their first new-team training.

And then _Shane_ , in all his machismo and stupidity had decided he wasn't a big fan of having another red guy. All Hunter had tried to do was make a few suggestions at improving his technique and suddenly it was freaking world war three, Shane drawing a line in the sand and making sure that Hunter was on the other side.

You know what, _fine_. Hunter could play that game. He liked games, hell, he _won_ games. Games were easy, as long as you kept your eyes on the goal and stayed completely detached from the changing winds. Put blinders on, ignore your surroundings. _That's_ how you survived.

And after he had smacked Shane down hard enough for his _grandchildren_ to feel it, Hunter was going to set this stupid skateboard on _fire_.

And then…

Lunch.

Lunch sounded like a good plan.

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

-:-:-:-:-:-

"You should be flattered that I thought of you first dude, I don't know why you're bugging."

Cam sighed heavily before looking at him with exasperated eyes. "Look Dustin, just because I'm intelligent doesn't mean I'm automatically good at everything."

_Could've fooled me._

The brunette tried to defend himself.

"That's not what I meant," he began, sweeping a dirt pile into the dustpan. "I meant that you're already good at a lot of stuff so why can't doing the robot be one of them?"

Cam frowned and went back to typing. "Because I like to focus on the important things in life."

Dustin paused mid-sweep. "And getting funky isn't one of them?"

Because if it wasn't, it should be.

"Don't make me answer that," Cam replied tersely, clacking away at his keyboard.

The guy could multitask.

"You need to learn how to relax man," Dustin said, ditching his broom and walking over to Cam, massaging his shoulders. "Get your party on."

They frowned simultaneously. Cam from the excessive touching, Dustin at the tense muscles.

Did this guy ever relax?

"That sounds a lot like something I would never want to do," Cam muttered, pausing to push Dustin's hands off. "Ever."

Dustin waited a moment before resuming his massage; his mom said he was really good at them.

Cam sighed but didn't bother trying to stop him this time.

"What do you do when you're not doing this?" Dustin asked, smile spreading across his face.

Cam remained silent.

"Come on, you _have_ to do other things," he continued, pressing a little harder on a particularly sore spot.

Cam hissed, but again, didn't stop him. "I don't _have_ to do anything, except die."

He supposed Cam had a point. Like, Dustin knew it was the only guarantee you had in life (he had heard that on TV), like, you weren't even guaranteed that you were going to live but-

Cam looked at him questioningly.

Oh, he had stopped moving his hands.

Dustin gave a sheepish smile and started up again. "I always thought that was more of an unfortunate consequence."

"Of living?" Cam asked, tilting his head to the side.

Dustin thought about this.

"…yes?" he asked, pitch rising slightly.

So he hadn't thought it through that much.

"Answering a question with a question isn't really answering," Cam informed him, finishing one…thing on the screen and starting up another one.

"…sorry?" Dustin offered, wincing at the question.

He couldn't help it; he didn't know how to answer.

Cam sighed. "You're forgiven."

"Awesome," Dustin said, bouncing slightly in place.

He was just getting back to focusing on his new job when two beeps emitted from his morpher. A quick look told him it was Shane.

He promptly ignored it; the red ranger would just have to deal.

After a few more beeps Cam stopped his typing and looked at him. "Shouldn't you answer that?"

Dustin shook his head, not stopping his massage. "Its Shane," he informed helpfully.

"And?" Cam asked, waiting for a full explanation.

And it was national everybody-ignore-Shane day where you ignored guys named Shane, except when you bake a cake and go out of your way to find guys named Shane and eat it in front of them and laugh at them and hold it away from them because they couldn’t have any, because their names were _Shane_.

A shake on Dustin’s hand snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked down in time to see Cam's worried look.

He smiled at the tech reassuringly.

"I'm giving him the cold shoulder," he explained, as though nothing happened.

Cam, because he understood, went along with it.

"Dare I ask why?" he asked, finally going back to typing after giving the yellow ranger one last look.

_I'm not gonna break dude_.

Dustin sighed, thinking about what had happened. "I don't want to talk to him."

"That's usually why one gives the cold shoulder," Cam muttered, not impressed by his answer.

He wasn't impressed with a lot of things.

Dustin started rubbing little circles on the back of Cam's neck, earning a contented sigh in return.

Check, Cam liked the massage.

Dustin's morpher gave off two more beeps which he continued to ignore. He dared Shane to try talking to him.

"What did he do?"

Dustin almost missed the question in his staring contest with the morpher.

"Be a jerkface," he replied. Then he went back to staring.

Cam slowed his typing before stopping altogether, turning his chair around to face the earth ninja, forcing him to take a step back. "Dustin."

That was all he said. Like, that was all he needed to say to get Dustin to spill his guts and…okay, so he wouldn't spill his guts, but it was nice to have someone just stop for him. Even if it made him a little uncomfortable.

Dustin fidgeted for a second now that his hands were unoccupied.

"He's just mad," he explained, scratching the back of his head. "I couldn't take it."

Cam nodded in understanding. "Displaced anger?"

"Yeah," Dustin replied, going back to his dustpan. He focused better when his hands were busy.

"I'm avoiding him," he finished, emptying it into the trash can. He tried to ignore the eyes that were boring into the side of his head.

"How's that going?" Cam asked, sounding…interested.

Cool.

"Pretty good I think," Dustin chirped, smiling for the first time since his morpher beeped. He continued. "Its like, incentive," he reasoned, hunting down stray dirt. "Once he gets along with Hunter I'll talk to him again."

Dustin looked up worriedly when Cam didn't answer right away, he was afraid his idea was dumb, but the look on Cam's face appeared thoughtful.

"That," the tech started, pointing at Dustin to emphasize his point. "Might actually work."

Dustin felt his cheeks heat up and turned away from Cam, mumbling, "Thank you."

That was the closest Cam had ever come to telling him "good job", and while Shane and Tori might have said it to him before (and even Sensei), it just…meant a little more when it came from Cam. To impress someone so impressive totally made his day.

Forget Shane.

"I didn't know you were so devious," Cam commented, turning back to his work with a smile.

He had obviously seen Dustin's reaction.

"What?" the yellow ranger asked, when he realized he had no idea what he meant.

"Scheming," Cam clarified, typing away.

One day, Dustin would ask him what he was working on. For all the brunette knew it was a glorified version of pong.

After that they worked in silence for a bit, Dustin finished his sweeping (dusting would be next) while Cam switched from his computer to this ray-gun looking thing he'd been fiddling with for a while now. It was the only thing he had refused to explain, something about it being “a secret".

In Dustin's opinion the tech wasn't sure what it would do yet, and _that_ was why he refused to talk about it.

Cam broke the silence. "Why aren't you competing in the Total Trek?"

Despite rarely leaving Ninja Ops Cam knew all about the Trek, and it wasn't just because of Dustin; Tori, Shane and Hunter had been going on and on about it all week. In his visits Dustin had never mentioned entering or training for it, so Cam must have figured he was opting out.

"Skateboards and me don't mix," Dustin answered, putting the broom back into the closet. He grabbed the duster and Pledge off the shelf.

"Skateboards and _I_ ," Cam corrected.

" _'Skateboards and you'_ what?"

Cam stared at the other teen in barely-concealed amusement before waving the comment off.

"Never mind." He frowned at a stubborn wire…or something. "Bad experience?" he asked without looking up.

_Total understatement._

"Yeah, I totally smashed my face into the ground." Dustin cringed at the memory. "I'm not doing that again."

_No way, no how._

Cam scoffed at him. "It's not that hard, it's just physics."

_No, I think not._

It was more like the most impossible thing in the world.

Dustin wagged his finger at Cam knowingly. "You're smart dude, but smarts don't help your balance."

And even if it _did_ , smarts didn't help you land major tricks without breaking your neck or your arms or other happy things you needed to do _other_ happy things. Like order pizza.

"I beg to differ," Cam murmured, staring closer at a circuit thing. "If you understand what you're doing and think about your execution, your probabilities of success will increase exponentially."

So if you looked before you leap? It sounded like it would work in theory but-

… _Hm_.

He smelled an idea.

"So," Dustin began, trying to sound casual while dusting off a random monitor; there were about twenty of them. "Even someone who's never been on a board…"

Cam took the bait easily.

Perhaps Dustin _was_ this "devious" thing.

"If they have their theory down it shouldn't be too hard," Cam replied, finally showing that circuit/wire/screw what was what.

There were no more words to be said as Cam, in his learnified knowledgeness, had said them for him, so Dustin settled on stopping what he was doing and giving the other teen his patented puppy dog eyes until he gave in.

Cam noticed what the yellow ranger was doing after a few minutes, questioning look on his face until what the curly-haired ninja wanted finally dawned on him; and he pointed at Dustin sternly. "No."

Well, he hadn't expected Cam to come easy.

"Please?" Dustin asked, because it never hurt.

"No," Cam replied, looking away from him in an attempt to end this conversation.

Dustin wasn't going to give up without a fight.

"Come on Cam-" he pleaded, but the tech cut him off.

"No."

"But you just said-"

"I lied," Cam insisted, avoiding looking at him. He seemed to have found the weakness of the puppy dog eyes.

"You didn't," Dustin shot back, abandoning his dusting duties and moving so that he was right beside Cam, completely ignoring the bespectacled teen’s personal bubble. He stared hard at the side of Cam’s face.

Cam continued focusing on his toy.

"I'm not doing it."

He stated it like a fact.

Well as it turned out, facts were unimportant in the world of Dustin.

"Please?" Dustin asked again, leaning against the tech. He almost felt like a kid at the grocery store, leaning his entire body on mom so that she would buy him some candy. He hoped he wouldn't have to throw a tantrum. That was _so_ not his style.

Cam was irritated but ignored his movement.

"No," he insisted again.

"Pretty please?" Dustin tried.

It was a super-sized please.

"How is that better?" Cam asked irritably, making the mistake of looking at him.

_Because it's_ **_super_ ** _-sized._

Dustin was there, eyes going full force.  "Pretty please with sugar on top?"

Their faces were only inches apart; there was no way his look would not work. The closer you were to the puppy dog eyes, the more vulnerable you were. Cam stared at him for a few seconds before shaking Dustin off and jerking his head away, focusing fully on his work.

"No," he ground out between clenched teeth.

_Nertz_ , he had almost had him.

It was time for plan B.

Subliminal messaging.

Or maybe not; Dustin wasn't totally sure what subliminal messaging _was_.

_This_ , would be Dustin-subliminal message.

"Do it Cam," he coaxed, excitement building, threatening to overwhelm him.

Cam ignored the earth ninja and turned his head the other way.

Dustin bounded over to his other side, repeating, " _Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it_ ," at varying volumes and rhythms, whatever it took; he hadn't really cared about the race but the idea of Cam on a skateboard was too good to pass up on.

"Now you're not even providing an argument!" Cam exploded, finally looking at him again.

Dustin surged forward, wrapping his arm around the tech’s shoulders. "Do it pretty, pretty _please_."

How 'bout that; two pretty's.

"Think of how awesome it would be if we won!"  It would be _ridiculous_. "We would be total underdogs and they would be all doubtful and stuff and then we'd come up from behind and smack them down!"

That would teach Shane.

… _what?_

"No," Cam echoed, breaking Dustin from his thoughts.

The yellow ranger shook his head and focused; he was almost winning this. "Come on, this would be the perfect chance for you to relax."

It was the next best thing to getting funky.

Cam looked like he was about to toss Dustin’s arm off but thought better of it.

"I can think of at least ten other things that would be far more relaxing," he grumbled, giving Dustin a light glare.

He should put it into terms Cam would understand, that was what the tech always did for Dustin when he didn't get something.

And that was a lot.

"Think of it as an experiment," he stated happily. Cam always loved a good experiment.

"No."

Okay, now he was just being stubborn. If Cam was smart enough to be able to skateboard the only reason he was holding out was because he felt like being mean.

…Unless he was just talking the talk.

_Hmm_ …that could be it, and Dustin was just embarrassing him or something.

_Oops._

"Oh…" he whispered, it finally dawning on him. "I get it."

Cam looked at him suspiciously. "What?"

Dustin pulled off his arm, suddenly feeling silly about the whole thing. "You can't do it."

"What?" Cam echoed, but this time it was in disbelief.

_It's not that hard to get man._

Dustin smiled at his friend knowingly. "You're all talk but you can't do it-"

"I can do it," Cam cut off, defending himself. His eyes widened and he began to shake his finger at Dustin. "And you're not going to bait me-"

Bait?

Dustin wished he knew what he was doing sometimes so that he could do it better.

" _Please_ Cam," he repeated; giving up on his other tactics and sticking with the one he was good at.

This time Cam hesitated before answering "…No."

It almost sounded like a question.

"Cam?" Dustin pressed, tentatively.

The green-clothed teen frowned, eyes locked with Dustin's. They stood like that, silent, for who knew how long.

It felt like forever.

It was probably a few minutes.

"…fine," Cam gave in with a sigh, slumping his shoulders.

"Really?" Dustin asked; it was almost too good to be true.

"Yes," Cam replied, and Dustin was across the room in a heartbeat, latching on to the tech with a fierce hug, pressing his face against the other teen’s neck.

"But I'm not practicing with other people around," Cam warned, like he would get stage fright or something. "We'll do it at night."

_Whatever you want man._

This was going to be great.

Dustin broke off the hug, taking a few steps back.

"Tomorrow then?" he asked, then without waiting for an answer, because they were totally going to do it tomorrow, he said, "I'll get you some gear."

He still had the stuff he tried to use last year. Dustin had acquired his own set because the stuff that Shane had intended to let him borrow had been _way_ too red.

"Dustin-" Cam began, calling after the brunette as he made his way out of the lab.

"Don't sweat it man; I got this!" Dustin yelled over his shoulder, beginning his run home.

He so totally did. It was nice having something for a change.

Now if only he could remember where he put that stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time


	7. Magic Foot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during "Boxing Bopp a Roo".

This, Cam was almost certain, would be classified as a bad idea. And the unfair truth of it all was that it had been _his_ idea in the first place. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

He was waiting, with slight trepidation, for Dustin to arrive at the Skate park. As the tech requested it was night; the lampposts casting light over the wood and concrete.   The park with the exception of himself was empty and that was how he had wanted it. This had been a point he had argued with himself for a while over. Technically this was an experiment, and he had felt a distinct need to control his environment to ensure his performance would not be affected in any way. He had by no means, "stage fright". But if he was going to pick up a board for the first time and should the results were rather undesirable he would rather do it alone. Then again, if he broke his neck and died he _would_ like to have some witnesses.

Ultimately he discerned that Dustin would be enough of an audience and left it at that.

How did he end up in this situation? Oh yes, he'd "Shot off his mouth".

His intent was for his words to be comforting. Perhaps even motivating for Dustin so that _he_ would be the one attempting this. However Dustin, being far slyer than he looked, took advantage of his moment of distraction and now his pride wouldn't let him back out of his agreement. Actually that wasn’t totally true; Cam had tried to back out multiple times. It was just… Dustin, with his lax boundaries on physical interaction and his seemingly innocent pleading had more or less "wooed" him over to the idea, and now here he was.

It was stupid, to be honest. And while the situation looked to be only for the yellow ranger's gain, Cam knew deep down that it was to his advantage as well.

To be truthful it made him feel a little dirty.

He could go on and on about how friendship was about give and take and that this experiment was simply another way of strengthening their bond, but if Cam was going to be honest, to himself at the very least, he had done it for the … hugging.

That was one way of putting it.

Dustin, in all Cam’s observations, was a very tactile creature. He was constantly seeking out physical connections with the people he trusted. He didn't even think about it, he simply did it. For Cam that was the worst part. To Dustin it all amounted to simple friendship. Cam had a theory that he might not get enough affection in his home environment, leading him to seek it from others, his constant presence at Ninja Ops only further supported this hypothesis. The mechanic never read any deeper meanings into it.

But that wasn't how Cam felt about it.

His father was a freaking guinea pig; it was a little difficult to receive any kind of physical reassurance. Even when he _had_ been human that had been difficult to achieve. They simply weren't touchy feely people. So when Dustin was simply...Dustin, and hanging on Cam and hugging him and high fiving him and whatever the action of the day was, and yes, he did keep track, Cam couldn't help but think how _nice_ it felt to hold somebody or to have someone hug him. He hadn't known how starved he had been for that kind of personal interaction until Dustin had gone and given it to him for free. The part that really made Cam hate himself the most was that he was unable to determine whether he appreciated these actions because they were from _Dustin_ , or if he simply craved the interactions, in which case he was just using the yellow ranger and he was a dirtbag who should have never opened his mouth to speak to the team outside of ranger-related business.

For all his intelligence, he couldn't figure out the answer. Though a small part of him knew that he would take _whatever_ Dustin offered.

He tried to ignore that part.

To save himself the headache, and to ascertain he didn't come to completely hate himself, Cam decided to take the easy way out of it and simply not think about it. Sure, it would always be there looming over his shoulder, stuck on him like his shadow, weighing him down bit by bit until he eventually lost it, but for _now_ he would be able to function. At this point, that was all he really wanted.

So, where was he?

Skate Park, scoping out the set up.

From what he had gathered from past Total Trek's Kelly simply used the park as it already was, not bothering to bring in any new ramps or change the layout. For seasoned skaters this would be a great advantage, so now Cam was in the position where he had to catch up on years of familiarity from the veterans. The tricky thing with street skating was that you not only had to focus on the trick you were about to do, but you had to think ahead to where you would land, where you would go next, and what trick came after _that_ before the entire process started all over again. Cam didn't doubt his capabilities, but he would have an incredible handicap compared to say, Shane.

Speaking of which…

Finally, after their second round with the Kangaroo (Bopp a Roo, what’s-his-face) the red ranger and Hunter had managed to put their differences aside to learn how to work together, and they _finally_ had a fully functioning team. It took them long enough. The weird thing though was that after the fight debrief at Ninja Ops was that _now_ Shane and Dustin were having issues. The red ranger just could not stay likeable.

No, that wasn't fair to Shane. Cam had gotten the feeling that Dustin's anger had been kindled before that as despite his constant babble he had never once mentioned Shane. Cam had begun to seriously worry about Dustin's mental condition, which may be another reason he had agreed to try skateboarding, even after he managed to coax the yellow ranger into talking about Shane.

It was unnatural to see them at odds; Cam hoped, for all their sakes, that it would end soon.

A glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye shook him out of his reverie and he turned to observe Dustin's approach, laden with a skateboard and a well-stuffed duffle bag, full of what Cam would assume were pads and other safety gear. The tech had done his share of preparation as well, bringing along his laptop to supply and record the necessary data, and a well equipped first aid kit. He could've been the best skater in the world who never missed a trick and he _still_ would have brought this thing along, simply because being associated with Power Rangers tended to make unexpected things occur.

Also, if Dustin managed to wound himself, he may only be observing but he would _find_ a way, Cam would be ready. Because the Power Rangers themselves seemed to attract injuries like flies to honey. Compound that with Dustin's natural tendencies and you found yourself a person who managed to hurt themselves while simply _dusting._ No joke, this had happened.

Cam had learned not to be surprised by now.

"Cam, dude!" Dustin shouted, waving at him excitedly, closing the distance in between them. Though he was still in conflict with Shane, Dustin still managed to be as cheerful and enthusiastic as ever. It was that kind of focus Cam could only wish to have, though he was unsure how exactly the curly-haired teen did it. Either whatever issues he had with Shane really weren't that bad, or he was really good at ignoring his problems. If it was the later, Cam was very worried.

He would have to keep an eye on that.

"You got your smarts ready?" Dustin asked, dropping the bag on the ground with no particular care. Cam hoped there was nothing fragile in there, the treatment of the bag would indicate such, but with the yellow ranger that wasn't always the case.

Cam blinked and took a closer inspection of the bag, dust ingrained in the strap. "I am adequately prepared, if that's what you mean."

Dustin smiled and crouched down next to the bag, unzipping it.

"It took me a while to dig this stuff up, but it's still in good condition," he pulled out a towel and flicked it to the side, emitting a cloud of dust. "A little dusty though," he admitted. Cam pulled another towel out of the bag and mimicked his friend’s actions, producing the same results.

Dustin grinned sheepishly, "Okay, a lot of dusty."

Cam shrugged and tossed the towel to the side overlooking Dustin's blatant disregard to grammar.

"They'll function fine," he consoled while digging through the bag for the necessary gear. Dustin joined him immediately, tossing a pair of kneepads beside Cam.

"Yeah, a little dust never hurt anything," Dustin admitted, unperturbed. He stopped suddenly, and Cam knew before he asked that he had a question, "Except computers right?"

Cam chose to nod in response and Dustin took it as a signal to resume searching.

Unlike most people Dustin genuinely asked questions for the purpose of receiving and dutifully storing away the answers, which you would think was the given purpose of questions, but with the yellow ranger it was somehow more…sincere. It wasn't small talk, there wasn't a hidden meaning, he simply asked a question (even if the question was on a whim) and appreciated the answer. Whatever it was. He had a tendency to stop whatever else he might be occupied with because he was focusing on the response, which made it very easy to recognize when he was about to ask something. Cam had yet to figure out how to be able to identify _what_ he would ask about, but had long given up on it.

There were some things that just weren't meant to be known.

They were in the middle of dusting off the mostly-new gear when Dustin broke the silence, nervously at first, but gradually picking up speed.

"Hey, I uh…I told Tori, well, I half-told Tori and then I couldn't remember if I was _supposed_ to tell Tori so I stopped, but then I remembered you never mentioned _not_ telling anyone and I figured I was halfway there so I finished telling her about it and…"

Cam nodded, reassuring Dustin that it was okay.

"She didn't insist on coming?" he asked. Because if _he_ thought this was a bad idea, Tori was probably somewhere in the vicinity of _"why-don't-we-just-give-earth-over-to-Lothor?"_ bad idea…land.

He was spending a lot of time with Dustin. It wasn’t an excuse, it was merely a reason.

"Oh, she did dude," Dustin informed him, pausing mid-wipe of the helmet. "I just told her she would have to wait with everyone else."

He smiled at Cam before resuming his work, and the tech couldn't help but know how proud Dustin was of that fact. Cam went ahead and felt a little proud with him. Then he realized the implications of Dustin's statement, how he assumed (without having witnessed it) that he would be able to pull this off. And that made him think.

He would rue the day if he had to pick his biggest supporter, because the answer he would be expected to give would be his father, but the answer that would be the most _truthful_ would be Dustin.

Cam took a moment to let that settle in before responding. "Your faith is abundant."

Despite the leap in conversation Dustin simply nodded, not noticing (or not caring about) the gap.

"It's you," he stated as though it explained everything. Thankfully, he continued, "If you say you've got what it takes, then there's nothing to worry about."

If only it were that easy.

"Okay, we are officially dust free!" Dustin exclaimed, hopping up, helmet and board in hand, "Let's get this thing started!"

Because Cam was ever so eager to test his theory.

Well, he made his bed, he'll lay in it.

Even if he didn’t want to.

-:-:-:-:-:-

As it turned out, it hadn't been as bad as Cam had originally thought it was going to be. Sure, there were a few falls (as was expected), but for the most part he actually… "rocked". Dustin's words, not his, though he agreed they were applicable. His balance was fine, so he could ride easily, and after a few tries he had managed an ollie (wherein you make the board hop) which was essentially a "gateway" trick. He had lost his board the first few tries, pushing the tail down and hopping off, but eventually he got the hang of it. After that he moved to a Frontside 180, an ollie where you rotated the board 180 degrees.

Fixing the zords? Writing programs? Managing multiple experiments? That was nothing.

Accomplishing two of the most basic skateboarding moves? Bring on the parade of feeling stupidly proud.

It figured.

It was time to move on. The halfpipe was what most people envisioned when they think about skateboarding. If Cam played his cards right, this was where he would be getting most of his points. It was also where he would be getting most of his pain if he messed anything up.

He tried to be optimistic; he could probably manage at least a few of these. He started easy, a Rock Fakie and a Rock and Roll, basic moves that didn't require actually going into the air. He'd done each of them a few times to ensure that he had them, and was ready to move on when his luck finally ran out.

To add insult to injury he hadn't even been attempting a trick at the time, he had simply been picking up speed going back and forth when he landed just a bit off and his board decided it wanted to go off the ramp and took him with it. For a moment he thought he could just ride it out, but his board, the conniving charlatan that it was, had other plans. It promptly hit a rut, catapulting him forward and causing him to land awkwardly on his foot before bowling into Dustin, who was attempting to cushion his fall. He rolled off of Dustin and did a quick check to see if he sustained any injuries (thankfully he hadn't) before tentatively pressed on his right ankle to see that yes, it hurt, and no, there would be no more skateboarding tonight.

He couldn't figure out if that made him happy or disappointed.

His foot made his decision for him, and it chose to be in pain.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It had happened so fast that Dustin hadn't actually seen where everything went wrong, but one moment Cam was rocking it and the next moment he was flying off the ramp at roadrunner speed and Dustin didn’t even think before he moved to catch him. He threw himself a little backwards so the collision wouldn’t be as bad as it could be.

Cam was already off of him by the time Dustin recovered but he didn’t get up, and Dustin got the sinking feeling that he had really hurt himself and the guilt just poured on while he frantically ran to get the first aid kit. He was back at Cam's side in record time, and he quickly opened the bag while casting nervous looks at his friend's ankle that seemed to have elected it was time to change colors and get swollen.

This would be a lot cooler if it wasn't Cam.

And then Dustin realized he had no idea what Cam needed, "…uh, what do you-"

"There's a cold compress in there," Cam ground out through closed teeth, Dustin located it and gave it to him. "I'll tape it on before we get going."

"Going?" He echoed, a little confused, gently pressing the pad down against the swollen ankle. Cam might not know this, but with that foot he wasn’t going anywhere, unless Dustin helped him.

Okay so they could go places.

Cam raised an eyebrow at him, already having figured this out. "I would prefer to tape this up at Ninja Ops."

Shouldn't Dustin take him to a hospital or something?

"Oh, right," he mumbled distractedly, digging around until he found the tape. "What's wrong with it?"

What if he broke it? Sensei would be _so_ mad. _Tori_ would be so mad. Dustin wasn't sure if Blake and Hunter would be mad, but Blake might be just for the sake of not getting on Tori's bad side. He didn't want to think about how Shane would feel.

Dustin felt a little mad. At himself.

Cam took his prize just as he located it, and together they taped the compress in place.

"It's just sprained I think," Cam explained, "I'll run some tests on it to be sure."

When they got back.

A new voice broke into their conversation, "You got off easy, all things considered."

Dustin could recognize that sound from anywhere.

"Shane?" he asked before he could stop himself.

What was he doing here? Dustin had made sure he wasn't going to be at the park, purposefully picking a time that was _way_ after when Shane normally left. In fact the yellow ranger had scoped out the park before he even met up with Cam, just to make sure.

Shane, catching his questioning look explained himself, "Tori told me."

"So you decided to keep an eye on us?" Cam countered, completely unaffected by Shane's sudden appearance.

Was he hiding in the trees, waiting for them to fail?

Cam… he meant waiting for _Cam_ to fail. Dustin wasn't doing anything.

Shane ignored the question and responded with one of his own. "Did you ever stop to think that this was a stupid idea?"

Dustin couldn't hide his flinch at that and started to defend him…them, Cam, "He was doing fine…"

Shane cut him off, frowning irritably at Cam, "What, were you going to master skateboarding in two days?"

Not master it, just like, be medium at it. Because _some_ people don't feel like playing on some _other_ people's team so those _other_ people have to go find… _other_ - _other_ people who weren't disgusted by the idea of working with the _other_ people.

He was overreacting, a lot, because Shane was teaming up with Hunter and that was good for the team, but-

He didn't have to be such a jerk about it.

Cam jumped in this time, defending their experiment, "That's not what we intended-"

"You could've broken your neck," Shane butt in, focusing on the tech.

What was his problem? Was he mad at Dustin for suggesting this to Cam? Was he mad at Cam for going along with it? Was he just mad at everybody because that was just how he was going to be from now on? Well Dustin had had enough.

"Dude, would you just lay off!" He shouted, standing so that he could glare at Shane right in the eye.

There was a tense silence were they just stared at each other. Shane was the one who broke it off, jerking his head to the side to look at Cam.

"Come on, we need to get you back to Ninja Ops," he spat out coldly, hefting one of the bags onto his shoulder before moving to help Cam. Dustin copied him, packing up the first aid kit and taking Cam's other side, and soon they were walking/hobbling to Cam's car.

Shane stopped them just short of it, turning to face Cam. "Can you drive?"

Cam shook his head.

"Don't have to, just sit in the driver's seat and look pretty." Dustin blinked at him confusedly, Cam continued, "Auto pilot will do the rest."

The question was out before he could stop, and he cursed himself for breaking his self imposed silence, "You put auto pilot in your car?"

Because that was kind of awesome. Just think of the possibilities. Then again, this was Cam so it probably followed _every_ traffic rule ever and drove like, five miles under the speed limit.

Cam smiled at him as they got in the car, "How do you think the mobile command center gets around?"

Dustin scratched his head, drawing a blank, "…Ninja Power?"

"Not quite," Cam responded.

Dustin refused to let Shane's silence affect him in any way.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The ride back to Ninja Ops was spent in complete silence. Cam knew that this was merely the calm before the storm. This…tiff, whatever this _problem_ was, was going to be settled tonight and he was going to make sure of it. At this point he didn't trust either one of them to be able to work it out on their own, and if they kept going on like this it was going to start affecting their ranger duties.

It would be best to stop it before it got that far.

He had hoped to use taping his ankle up as a team building exercise, with him relaying instructions while Dustin and Shane carried them out, but unlike when the red and crimson ranger were at odds with each other these two actually managed to work together quite efficiently. In fact, they were _so_ efficient they didn't even feel the need for any kind of small talk _whatsoever_.

It was a little disturbing.

When they had finished there was another (to add to the great list they had accumulated so far) awkward silence where Shane simply glowered at the wall and Dustin nervously stared at his feet and fidgeted in place, unsure of what to do. Like many other times, Cam knew what to do, and it was happening now. He had even brought them into the sanctity of his room to ensure some level of privacy. With a ninja master hanging around that was difficult to find, but his room was the best option.

"This," he began, breaking the silence and earning two shocked looks, "ends now. Whatever issues you two have need to be worked out and you're not leaving until everything's resolved."

Dustin blinked at him, startled, but Shane looked like he was about to protest so Cam continued, "It's going to start affecting the team."

At that the red ranger snapped his mouth shut.

When all else failed, guilt them into it. Cam had learned that from Tori.

Before they could fall back into silence the tech decided to get the ball rolling.

"You," he started, pointing to Shane, "did or said something to Dustin," the tan teen nodded, guilt seeping into his features. "You," he continued, pointing at Dustin, "know that he wasn't really angry with you," Dustin nodded, but refused to look at either one of them.

Mentally Cam sighed; this was one of those things that was really about something else, a deeper wound.

He persevered through this revelation.

"Now you," back to Shane, "have attempted to apologize, multiple times, I'm assuming."

Shane nodded but didn't look at him, instead focusing on Dustin who still had his eyes glued to the floor.

What was wrong?

"So far, you," back to Dustin, "have avoided him and ignored any attempts he's made to talk to you," he finished, leaning back on his bed.

There it was, all the facts on the table, everybody on the same page. Everyone, except himself and Shane.

It was Dustin who now held all the cards.

"So the real question is, why are you upset?"

His question hung in the air, causing Dustin to shift his weight uncomfortably before he finally took his eyes off of the floor.

"Dustin?" Shane asked, pleading (not obviously but that's what it was) for him to answer and for the first time Cam realized how hard these two days of silence must have weighed on the red ranger.

"I uh…didn't do anything," Dustin mumbled, taking sudden fascination with his shoes. "I thought about why it…bugged me and I know it wasn't…" he paused for a second waving vaguely in the air before looking back up at Shane, "I didn't do anything wrong."

Shane took a step forward. "I know, I was just mad about-"

Dustin continued as though he hadn't heard him.

"Like, if I had done something wrong I get that, yell at me, I'll fix it, but I hadn't _done_ anything and…" he paused again, rubbing his arms, "I guess that bothered me."

He guessed that bothered him. It "bothering" him was an understatement; anyone with eyes could see that but for _now_ they would take what was given and fix that. Cam wondered how many other kinds of things "bothered" Dustin. And why had they happened?

"… _yell at me, I'll fix it"._

He had the distinct feeling _that_ particular statement would be haunting him for a while. They didn't yell at ninja training. He was pretty sure they didn't yell at the track.

"I'm sorry," Shane said, pulling Cam from his thoughts. Like himself, Shane had picked up on the fact that Dustin was holding back, but had chosen to not comment on it.

"Me too, I-" Shane cut off the rest of Dustin's statement by pulling him into a hug, an action that Dustin immediately reciprocated, and Cam couldn't help but feel (despite the circumstances) a small flare of _jealousy/longing/envy_ by the sight. But that quickly faded into a distinct uncomfortable feeling, causing him to avert his eyes to the side. He was in the middle of thinking of the most polite (while still being abundantly clear) way of asking them to leave when Dustin called for his attention.

"Dude, group hug!"

No, he couldn't stand, and it was kind of late anyway, and the hugging thing was kind of bothering him and before he managed to voice any of these protests Dustin had carefully navigated himself between Cam and the wall, resting his head on his shoulder and throwing an arm across his waist and Shane was only a few seconds behind him, smiling in contained amusement before taking Cam's other side and throwing an arm over his shoulder, leaning slightly into him.

It was ironic that their attempts to be nice were only serving to bring him further self loathing.

His effort to shake them off only encouraged them to latch on tighter, and eventually he gave up and decided to enjoy the comfort.

Even if it made him a dirtbag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It *should* get around by Ninja Power.


	8. Simple Joys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after "Boxing Bopp a Roo".

"This is terrible."

Leave it to Hunter to find _just_ the right words to describe what they were watching. Tori couldn't argue though, it was terrible.

"It could be worse," Shane offered, popping another piece of popcorn into his mouth.

She took her eyes off the program in time to see Hunter scrunch his nose in distaste.

"No, I don't think it could," he argued before shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth. She elected not to comment on their never-ending stomachs, they would simply swear that they needed it because they were growing boys. It was the same argument they used when they eliminated the pizza.

Dustin waved for no particular reason.

"It could be in like, Dutch dude," he started, pulling his eyes away from the screen long enough to make a serious face at Hunter. "Then you wouldn't be able to understand them."

Tori cringed. That _would_ be worse.

"Cam might," Blake suggested, shifting his arm again. He'd been doing this for the past half hour in an attempt to sneak it over her shoulder. He thought she hadn't noticed. Apparently the words "secret ninja training" meant nothing to him. Still, she wished he would just hurry up.

Cam let out a sigh, "I don't know Dutch."

"But you could build something to _translate_ Dutch," Hunter pointed out around another mouthful of popcorn.

Blake crept his arm closer. "Ten bucks says he's already built something that does that."

She couldn't see it, but she bet Cam was rolling his eyes.

"I haven't," he professed stoically. Hunter took another glance at Blake's arm progress and made an exasperated face. Tori allowed herself a small smile.

This had been a good idea.

"Ohh!" Dustin suddenly exclaimed, raising his hand and looking back at them, "Can I take that bet?"

Blake looked at him quizzically. "He already answered."

And therefore the bet couldn't be applied, but that wasn’t always how things worked out in Dustin's head.

They yellow ranger set his arm down dejectedly, "So…I don't get ten bucks?" he looked at Shane and Cam for confirmation.

"No Dustin," Shane looked distinctly amused.

"Shoot," Dustin murmured with sadness before slumping against Cam dramatically. To his credit Cam didn't push him off; he simply readjusted his shoulders to accommodate the yellow ranger.

It was cute to see them get along so well. That had been happening more and more lately. At first Tori had chalked it up to Dustin just being himself but Cam kept shooting him these looks. She couldn't describe them, but it looked like there was something he was trying to figure out. She would keep an eye on that, maybe talk to him about it later.

"I have," Cam broke in, "however, written a program to translate foreign languages."

Hunter popped another piece of popcorn into the air, catching it in his mouth.

"How is that not the same thing as building?" he asked, chewing away his victory.

Shane smirked and mimicked his actions with two pieces. Tori groaned, they better not start _that_ nonsense again.

The look on Cam's face must have said the same thing because they stopped and gave abashed looks while holding their hands up in surrender. He sighed, "It's different."

Dustin perked back up, "Can I get ten bucks _now_?"

He looked hopefully between Blake and Hunter.

"You never took the bet!" Blake exclaimed, Dustin opened his mouth and the Thunder bother clarified, "Before."

"That's a no," Shane replied, reaching over Cam to ruffle Dustin's hair. The other sighed in fake despair and went back to leaning against Cam, reaching over to grab a handful of popcorn out of his bowl. Cam tensed for a second before finally relaxing. Shane, despite his casual look, caught it action, and narrowed his eyes suspiciously before turning back to the screen. He brought his right elbow up and rested it on Cam's shoulder, leaning against him lightly. Cam tensed again, but eventually relaxed. Dustin didn't notice the transaction, toying with the hem of his sleeve absently.

Yes, there was definitely something there.

Tori decided to worry about it later; right now they were celebrating their many successes. Not only had Hunter and Shane managed to win Total Trek (which was a blessing because if they hadn't worked together they would both be gravely injured right now) but they were celebrating the fact that they were _finally_ a team.

Cam had yet to explain where he sprained his ankle. Tori was still waiting for the opportune moment to ask him.

In order to celebrate fully Dustin had suggested they get together and watch the brand new Power Rangers TV show, "Power Rangers Alpha Squadron", that happened to be premiering Monday night. Sure it was a kid's show but they all decided they needed a good laugh and went along with it. As soon as the guy's shift ended at Storm Chargers they all met up at Ninja Ops and where Cam introduced them (with great prodding) to a "living room" that none of them had known existed. Cam had explained that he had withheld the knowledge out of the fear that if they had known about it, they would never leave which was…fair enough.

It wasn't a big room, but it was clean, had a large TV with cable hookup and a big comfy couch that she, Blake, and Hunter currently occupied. Dustin, Cam, and Shane had opted to take the floor, leaning their backs against the foot of the couch. It was their first time to hang out as a real team.

And it was pretty amazing. Terrible programming not included.

"I think it would be better if it was in Dutch," Hunter suddenly announced, waving his arm with a flourish, spilling some popcorn onto Shane. The red ranger glared at him for a second before Dustin reached over and grabbed the stray morsels, happily popping them into his mouth. Shane relaxed and went back to staring at the TV where brightly colored heroes were running around fighting…green things. Tori wasn't sure what they were; she hadn't really been paying attention.

"You're right bro;" Blake replied, missing the popcorn event, "it's not like they're saying anything useful."

Hunter nodded gravely, "I think understanding the dialogue has made me dumber."

_Ain't that the truth._

"It's the writer's fault," Cam said, frowning as Dustin reached over him again for the popcorn. He sighed and lifted his arm up, draping it over the other teen’s shoulders, allowing the curly-haired teen to scoot closer and have easier popcorn access.

Tori couldn't help but glare at his head. _He_ could do it in less than thirty minutes, so what was taking Blake so long? She looked at Hunter desperately, mentally begging him to help. He rolled his eyes and shoved Blake into her. Before the navy ranger could react she resituated herself into his side. She wished she could see his face, she bet it read something along the lines of _"Wha…?"_

"I wasn't blaming the actors," Blake admitted, once he caught up to what happened.

"They could all be backwards," Dustin suggested suddenly and stopped, not bothering to explain any further. Tori, Cam, and Shane were unaffected (being used to similar outbursts) but the looks on Hunter and Blake's faces were priceless. Tori would have to ask Cam to get a screen shot of it from the security footage.

Hunter blinked in confusion before finally asking, "What?"

Dustin took his cue to continue.

"Like, they could always have their backs to the camera. That would totally be worse," he explained, making a turning motion with his hands. "Who wants to talk to someone's back?" he asked, looking back up at Hunter until a flash of movement on the screen caught his eye and he went back to being glued to it. At least one person liked this show.

It was Cam who broke the odd moment of silence, "I always appreciate a forward-speaking companion."

Dustin nodded in satisfaction.

"Cam agrees with me," he pumped his fist into the air, "I win."

"In what way-" Hunter started to ask but was cut off with a wave of Dustin's hand.

"Those are the rules," the yellow ranger reported in all seriousness. Shane muffled a snicker into his hands and Tori pressed the heel of her hand into her mouth. She wanted to hear how this played out.

"What rules?" Hunter asked, legitimately wondering on what he missed out on.

" _The_ rules," Dustin declared, gesturing broadly with his free hand.

Blake looked on in amusement.

"The rules you just made up," Hunter replied, unimpressed after having finally caught on.

Tori allowed a giggle to escape.

Dustin wilted. "Maybe…kind of…"

He trailed off before pressing his head against Cam's shoulder and mumbling, "…yes."

Before Hunter could make any kind of witty remark Shane cut in, "I agree with Dustin."

Instantly the yellow ranger brightened up, reaching over to high five his friend.

"See, majority of the team agrees with me. I win," he gushed happily before pointing to himself proudly. Tentatively Cam offered up his hand and Dustin high fived him too.

Shane tensed briefly.

It was some of the weirdest cause and effects Tori had ever witnessed. However Cam had noticed this one, and offered his hand out to Shane as well, who accepted easily. The tan teen hesitated for a moment before he carefully put his arm around Cam as well, his hand trailing off behind the back of Dustin's head. Tori wondered if anyone else was seeing this. If the Thunder's noticed, they didn't care.

"There's _nothing_ to win," Hunter insisted before reaching for another handful of popcorn only to discover his bowl was empty. He shrugged and reached over to grab some from Blake who promptly smacked his hand away. Hunter responded by smacking the back of his head and grabbing some popcorn anyway.

"Majority is more than half," Cam pointed out calmly, shaking his head at the antics of the characters on the screen. Tori noted that Shane was doing the exact same thing.

"I also side with Dustin," Blake replied jokingly, tossing a kernel at Hunter's head.

His brother swatted at him, annoyed.

"Now you're just trying to make me mad," he mock-growled, flicking the kernel back at him.

If they started a kernel fight Tori was ducking behind the couch, she didn't care how comfortable she was, she was not taking another shower today.

Blake caught her silent communication and flicked the kernel over the edge of the couch.

"Go with the flow bro, just go with the flow," he emphasized this by patting Hunter's arm in a consoling fashion. The crimson ranger frowned and knocked his hand away.

"Face it," Shane started, "our Kool Aid's tasty."

_Yeah Hunter, you know you love us._

He acted tough, but Tori could tell he really appreciated having a team to count on.

"We have Kool Aid?" Dustin asked curiously, turning his head back and forth to look for the missing beverage.

"Whatever," Hunter mumbled, blowing it off, " _Uhh_ …this show is awful."

And here they were, back at the beginning.

Blake nodded in agreement, talking around a mouthful of popcorn, "Even for a kid's show this is pretty bad. Shouldn't they be trying harder?"

Cam shook his head and went back to watching Dustin's search with Shane, "They're not trying to educate, they only want the ratings which means they have to cater to outlandishly small attention spans."

Tori nodded, it made sense.

"Seriously, where is the Kool Aid?" Dustin asked, sounding a little aggravated. He ran a hand through his curls absently, tapping Shane's hand. He looked around, startled to see what he had touched and poked it.

Shane wiggled his fingers in response.

"Same thing," the red ranger replied, completely ignoring Dustin's actions. Tori wiggled her fingers at him despite the fact he couldn't see it and earned a snort from Blake.

"They're probably both awful," Blake concluded, wiggling his fingers at her and Hunter took the opportunity to steal some more of their popcorn. When Blake turned to frown at him he simply wiggled his fingers in return.

To think last week he wouldn't even _joke_ with them. This was better.

"There isn't any Kool Aid," Cam informed Dustin quietly, pulling his attention away from Shane's hand.

The yellow ranger pouted (for lack of better word) and slumped against him.

"Aw man, that stuff is so _good_ ," he complained, but not wholeheartedly, eyes on the screen but still messing with Shane's hand.

Cam titled his head at the comment, "Its glorified sugar water."

Dustin spared him a glance, "Glorified sugar water with _color_."

"Pardon my offense," Cam replied, shaking his head in sync with Shane.

Dustin nodded seriously. "You are pardoned," he declared solemnly, patting the tech’s chest before grabbing some more popcorn.

"You are weird," Blake decreed, and was immediately assaulted from all sides. Tori and Hunter smacked him on the head while Shane and Cam took the chance to hurl popcorn kernels at him. The navy ranger pulled his free hand up in an attempt to block the attacks and sputtered, "Hey-ey, don't waste the popcorn!"

Dustin, having missed his defense, looked back at that call in time to see no popcorn in action, so he grabbed a piece from Cam's bowl and hurled it at Blake for good measure, smiling when it made contact with his head. Blake frowned and Tori rubbed the side of his head comfortingly, but didn't make any attempt to hide her smirk. He had asked for it.

"Keep going," Hunter urged, "it's more entertaining than this nonsense."

"It's not that bad!" Dustin insisted, making a face at him before returning to being glued to the show.

"What part about it is good?" Blake asked, scrunching his nose before going back to nursing his popcorn, playfully pulling the bowl away from Hunter when he went to grab for more.

He offered the bowl back after receiving a hearty glare.

"…their swords are nice," Dustin finally admitted after thinking about it. He then proceeded to swing his right hand about as though he were wielding an invisible sword occasionally making _shing_ sounds. Hunter, having completely given up on the show by now followed his movements with intense fascination.

"Ours are better," Shane grumbled, sparing the TV a brief glance before joining Dustin's growing audience.

"Thank you," Cam murmured, mostly to himself, but the quick look Shane gave him said he heard it.

"And I like his pants," Dustin announced, ending his fight by gesturing repeatedly at the character on the screen. Tori was grateful no one bothered pointing out that all the character's pants were the same (being that they were uniforms), the only difference was that the particular set he was pointing to belonged to the red ranger. The smug look on Shane's face announced that he had noticed that as well.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Hunter shared his feeling.

"Hooray pants," Blake mumbled sarcastically, squeezing Tori's arm.

She rested her head against his shoulder.

Hunter waved his arm again, preempting the next flaw he discovered, "What's with this ten minutes to morph thing? Why doesn't the bad guy just shoot them while they're doing that?"

"Why don't Lothor's goons ever do that to us?" Tori responded, secretly wondering the same thing herself.

"We're too fast," Blake answered, "we take like, five seconds max."

"Maybe they're stunned by our awesomeness," Dustin suggested, flourishing his napkin, " _And_ our good looks."

Cam, to her surprise, nodded in agreement. "Which is a completely separate thing from our awesomeness."

"Completely," the yellow ranger confirmed, shaking his head in an attempt to flip his hair. After a few tries he grabbed the side of his head, steadying it. Tori reached forward and patted him comfortingly. Shane's face told her he had been about to do the same thing before she interrupted and she gave him a knowing smile before sitting back; he waved her off.

"How did this show get so many seasons?" he asked, changing the subject. "They don't know the first thing about _real_ rangering."

"That would be why it's fiction," Cam marveled dryly, reaching up to jostle Dustin's hair. The yellow ranger hummed in appreciation.

"I thought it was funny," he announced, blinking at Cam innocently when he stopped. The tech sighed and resumed his petting.

Tori smiled at the exchange. "I think that part's supposed to be dramatic."

"No way dude," Dustin replied, practically purring.

Shane looked torn between being amused and being miffed.

"His friends just got shot," Blake offered, pointing to the screen where the civilians were whimpering on the ground. In the ranger's defense they shouldn't have been there in the first place.

"But… they're all _flaily_ ," Dustin emphasized this by waving his outside arm drunkenly. He stopped quickly when he noticed Cam had halted his ministrations and rested his head back against his shoulder so they could be resumed.

Forget pictures, Tori would have to steal the security footage.

Hunter's arm was brought up once more.

"No one acts like this!" he exclaimed, glaring at the people on the screen, "A piece of cardboard would be more relatable than these characters."

"A piece of cardboard would probably fight better too," Blake added, cringing as the good guys were yet again thrown around. It was almost pathetic how terrible they were. At least she, Shane, and Dustin had been able to fight. Not well, but they were miles ahead of these guys.

The navy ranger exhaled loudly, "Worst. Show. Ever."

Dustin tensed at his words and slowly drew his legs up to his chest, pushing his head harder against Cam. He wouldn't say it (because that wasn't his way) but all the insulting of the show felt like a personal attack on him because it had been his idea in the first place. Unfortunately, Blake and Hunter didn't know that yet.

Before she could assure him this was not the case, Shane broke in loudly proclaiming, "I like it." He smiled brightly at Dustin when the yellow ranger looked at him in question, and the skater proceeded to stare down the navy ranger.

Blake looked at him baffled until Tori poked him in the side, _hard,_ and he finally responded, "…me too."

Dustin looked back at him, completely bewildered, "You just said-"

"I'm a liar," Blake declared, sounding sincere.

After a pause Hunter added, "…it could be worse."

Dustin cheered up immediately, "Everyone agrees with me!"

Blake frowned, "Tori hasn't-"

"I agree."

Dustin pumped his fist into the air. "I win!" he smiled proudly.

"There's nothing to win!" Blake said, exasperated.

A mischievous smile lit Shane's face. "You could always fix that," he observed, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

"…What did I just get roped into?" the navy ranger asked after some hesitation.

"Ice cream run," Shane explained, earning a whoop from Dustin.

Blake tried to figure out how those two things connected in his head. "What?"

"I support this decision," Cam said, watching in amusement as Dustin did a happy dance.

Hunter pumped his fist as well, "Seconded."

Blake glared at his brother. "Traitor."

Hunter smirked at him happily, "Just make sure you get chocolate."

"And strawberry!" Dustin added, halting his dance.

Blake made a face. " _Ech_ , strawberry."

This did not sit well with Dustin.

"Don't rag on the berry man!" he urged, jumping up so he could look the navy ranger in the eye. "The berry'll take you down," he finished, squinting his eyes at him ridiculously in an attempt convey his point.

"…sure," Blake said when it became apparent Dustin wasn't going to move until he replied. Satisfied with his response, the other ranger smiled brightly and sat back down, ducking back under Cam's arm.

Blake turned to look at her, "You want anything special?"

Tori tried not to glow under the attention.

"Naw, I'm okay," she ensured, squeezing his hand for added effect.

Shane made a sound of distaste, "Less with the couple stuff, more with the ice cream stuff."

"Off with you!" Hunter added, waving his brother away.

Blake gave her one last smile before grumbling. "I'm going, I'm going," and quickly exiting the room.

Shane leaned back against the couch, pleased with himself, "Team bonding, there's nothing like it."

"He's gonna miss the end," Dustin murmured, voice downtrodden. He was actually sad about this.

Hunter stiffened and sent questioning looks between his watch and the TV, "It isn't over yet?"

"Hour long premier," Cam replied, plopping his now empty popcorn bowl on to the coffee table.

Shane grinned at him unapologetically.

Hunter slumped against the couch in defeat, "Oh joy."

"It could get better," Dustin offered, leaning over Cam to look the blond ranger in the eye. Cam tensed again, turning his head to the left to get more distance. Shane, seeing his "dilemma", if it could be called that, reached over and gently pushed Dustin back into his spot. The yellow ranger gave him an odd look but complied.

Maybe Cam just wasn't used to Dustin's excessive touching. But if Shane knew that why was he adding to the problem?

It didn't make sense.

There was a large arm gesture from Hunter.

"And what's with the super modes on the first episode?" he groused, pointing to the zord combat, "It's the first episode; you've got to earn that stuff."

"They should have made them slay a dragon or something," Dustin mused, bouncing slightly in place.

He was the only one who would be excited by that.

"Don't say that," Tori frowned, "it'll jinx us."

She did _not_ want to deal with a dragon anytime soon.

"Why?" Dustin asked innocently, "it would be _awesome_ to fight a dragon."

He concluded this by throwing several jabs, ducking around left and right. Of course he would box the dragon.

Cam shook his head fondly, "You say that _now_."

This dragon thing was probably going to happen just because of this conversation.

"Cam downloaded our sword upgrades," Shane reminded, pointing at her knowingly.

She frowned and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him, "Not during our first fight."

He shrugged, "It was close."

During the run of their conversation Dustin had nudged Cam's wrapped foot, and leaned close to his ear to whisper, "Do you need more ice?"

Cam shook his head without looking at him before replying in turn, "It's fine Dustin."

But being that this was Ninja Ops and it was filled with, you know, _ninja's_ , everyone else in the room had heard the exchange. Tori wasn't sure how everyone else felt about it, but she saw this as an opportunity to get some answers.

Hunter, being a great mind that thought alike, beat her to it.

"How'd you get that anyway?" he asked, motioning to Cam's injured foot.

Cam shrugged, "I fell."

Way to be vague.

Hunter didn't let up, "Where?"

"In a place of falling," Cam replied nonchalantly, trying his best to sound incredibly uninterested.

Dustin, Tori noted, had stilled himself as soon as this conversation had started, and was currently willing himself into a stone-like state. Either he wanted to disappear, or he was trying to listen better.

Or it was both.

Tori pressed the matter anyway.

"You're not team bonding," she joked, wagging her finger at Cam.

"Lay off guys, if he doesn't want to talk about it he doesn't have to talk about it," Shane defended, choosing to break his silence.

_So that's why he hasn't said anything._

"Says the guy who knows," Tori said, hiding her frustration at being left out. She was the third musketeer, she should know these things.

"He knows?" Hunter asked her, pointing at the ranger in question.

Tori smiled but continued, cutting to the chase, "Your skateboarding thing failed didn't it?"

"What skateboarding thing?" Hunter asked, searching for anybody who was willing to answer.

"Yes," Cam replied in monotone, "it failed, let's move on."

He ruffled Dustin's hair again but received no reaction.

Hunter decided to try Tori again, "Did he try to skateboard?"

Tori nodded, "So the rumors say."

"Dude-" Hunter started, leaning forward so he could see Cam's face.

"What's done is done," Cam interrupted, pulling his arm away from Dustin. "Who wants more popcorn?"

"Me!" Dustin responded, eagerly taking the distraction and jumping to his feet, helping the tech up before grabbing all the empty bowls. In record time they had vacated the room.

"He tried to skateboard?" Hunter asked again, looking at Shane

The red ranger shrugged. "He wasn't that bad, actually. He just took it too fast."

_He wasn't that bad?_

When Tori had told him about Dustin's plan the skater had been livid, yelling about how terrible and irresponsible the idea had been just before he stormed off and now he was actually _defending_ them?

_Someone_ didn't feel like sharing with the class.

"Where did he get that idea in the first place?" Tori asked for Hunter's sake, attempting to get him in the loop.

"Dustin, probably," Shane replied, sinking into the side of the couch.

Hunter stared at the door thoughtfully.

"What's going on with them?" he asked suddenly, addressing what had been on Tori's mind the whole day.

Shane furrowed his brows in confusion, jolted by the sudden change in subject, "What?"

"Them," Hunter repeated, indicated where Dustin and Cam had been seated.

The red ranger nodded, finally catching on to who he was addressing, "Nothing."

Hunter stared at him disbelievingly, "Sure."

"Seriously dude," Shane repeated, "it's nothing."

The blond teen wasn't buying it, and to be honest, neither was Tori. "So you guys are normally this clingy?"

"We're a team," Shane replied, frowning at what Hunter was implying.

"Look, I don't judge-" The crimson ranger began, holding his hands up in surrender, but Shane cut him off.

"What are you saying?" he asked, looking legitimately confused.

Okay, so maybe he hadn't caught on.

"We're a team now right," Hunter explained, "that means you can trust us."

Shane tensed but didn't spill. "I know that."

"We've got your back," Tori added, hoping that Shane would share what was on his mind.

"Yeah," he murmured, "I got that too."

Hunter shared a look with Tori before asking one last time, "So…nothing?"

"Nope," came the solid answer.

The crimson ranger stared at him blankly, no emotions on his face before he finally shrugged and said, "Okay."

…What?

That was it? They weren't going to try to dig for more? Okay, Hunter had done most of the digging but Tori wanted to be on the in for this one and-

"Trade," Hunter declared, hopping up from the couch.

Shane looked at him dumbly. "What?"

"Couch," Hunter continued like it was the plainest thing in the world, "you can take it."

Shane began to shake his head, "I don't want-"

"I insist," the other ranger interrupted, making a sweeping gesture with his arm to offer his spot.

Shane, at a loss for what to do gave in and took his seat,"…Okay."

Hunter smiled triumphantly and took the red ranger's old spot just as Cam and Dustin reentered the room, bowls refilled with popcorn. They both gave confused looks but Cam shrugged it off first, resuming his old position before redistributing the bowls. Dustin on the other hand looked torn between sitting by Cam or sitting by Shane. Tori spared him his agony by glaring him into submission (She loved him but Blake was staying by her). He smiled; sent Shane and apologetic look and took his original seat, leaning against Cam.

Tori had thought the upset was over, but Hunter had other ideas as he mimicked Shane's old position to a T and draped his arm around Cam, casually eating a handful of popcorn. Unlike the first time Dustin immediately recognized the new hand and poked it, receiving a wiggle of fingers in return.

Shane spent the rest of the even glaring at the back of the crimson ranger's head.


	9. Let's go to the Movies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place before "Pork Chopped"

Somehow TV night had designated itself to be the greatest rehearsal of absolute disgust and detestation of Cam's very being to date. Though he loathed admitting it, it was becoming gradually harder to simply _not_ think about it. It was an elephant, gargantuan and unpleasant, standing resolutely in the middle of his mind and it wasn't going to leave any time soon. For the moment he had settled for focusing on the wall next to it, but that would only last for so long.

Cam was currently lamenting his status while observing Dustin and Shane clean up the mess that had been created during movie night. Dustin had stayed after the others had trickled away, insisting Cam shouldn't have to do any kind of cleaning on his ankle (remnants of guilt no doubt) and Shane, being Dustin's shadow, had moved to help as well. Whether the skater was speeding or hindering the process was still up in the air.

Cam had been positioned by the other rangers on a recliner they had neglected to use earlier, allowing him a clear view of Dustin and Shane combing the couch area for stray popcorn. He had informed them that he had vacuums readily available for such purposes, but Dustin was adamant on doing it this way and Shane, not particularly caring either way, naturally agreed with Dustin.

To be honest, Cam couldn't help but feel a little at odds with Shane. There was never any question when it came to Tori or Dustin because things had simply fallen into place with them, but with the red ranger it had always been different. Cam supposed that the reason for this was because, in a way, they were both in charge of the team. Separate aspects, but the power was still there. Shane was the leader when they were in the field and maintained them emotionally off of it, but Cam took care of all things technical. Therefore they couldn't just fall into a leader-subordinate relationship (it wasn't a big difference with the others but that didn't exclude it from existence altogether) because it simply didn't fit what they had.

They respected each other, in and out of combat, but when it came to simply "hanging out", things remained incredibly awkward.

If Cam had to pick a reason as to why, he would have to say that they weren't comfortable with the idea of being…vulnerable around each other. It wasn't that they feared appearing weak, and it wasn't pride (at least in his case, he couldn't speak for Shane), it was just their way of supporting each other, respecting each other. They put on their best front because the other teen always did so. As a result, it was difficult to be completely at ease. Cam was still working on fixing this problem.

Shane seemed to be aware of it as well, and had decided to address it in the manner _he_ was most comfortable with.

And this was how Cam came to be physically tag-teamed from both sides.

It almost came as a relief when Shane and Hunter switched places; even when the crimson ranger had opted to get in on the "team bonding" it still hadn't been as aggravating/enjoyable (enjoyable, the very thought made Cam shudder with despair) as it had been with Shane.

Or Dustin.

Cam was currently chalking that up to not knowing the crimson ranger as well. Then, of course, it was inferred that his feelings were only natural and par for the course, which, if he was going to be honest, they weren't.

_Stop thinking about it._

Right. What was going on?

Cam brought his focus back to the remaining guests.

Dustin was on his hands and knees by the coffee table, face close to the ground as he searched intently for his prey, talking adamantly.

"We should watch next week's episode together too," he suggested, snatching up a kernal in triumph and tossing it into a nearby bowl. "Oh, and the week after that," he added, popping his head up and looking between Cam and Shane excitedly. "We could make it a tradition!"

"You don't even have to watch the show," Dustin continued. "We can just be together."

"Team bonding every week," Shane summarized, glancing sideways at Dustin with fondness. Cam hadn't studied the red ranger as closely as he should have, but he was beginning to get the feeling that look was reserved for Dustin.

**_Stop thinking about it._ **

Dustin nodded excitedly, making a broad motion with his arm that nearly knocked over his popcorn bowl.

"Team bonding every week!" Dustin echoed, volume multiplied. "Guaranteed," he added, before sitting back happily. He blinked before he remembered he had a bigger audience and turned, looking at Cam expectantly.

"The idea has promise," the tech admitted, nodding slowly.

That was all Dustin needed.

"Awesome! I'll tell Tori and Blake," he exclaimed before picking up the remaining popcorn pieces that were on the ground. "You can get Hunter," he continued, gesturing loosely to Shane while continuing his work.

 _Interesting_.

Dustin appeared to be subtlety encouraging Shane and Hunter's new budding friendship, egging them into more one-on-one interaction with each other. The earth ninja was far from the smartest guy on the team, but he was certainly becoming by far one of the craftiest. It was only a greater credit to the brunette that he wasn't aware that he was doing it. Well, it was either that or the yellow ranger was avoiding Hunter, but that option didn't add up seeing as nothing detrimental had happened to their relationship. At least, nothing that Cam had picked up on.

Still…

He shared a look with Shane, the red ranger sensing his doubts. Cam shook his head in return; it wasn't something they needed to address right now.

Shane nodded, indicating he understood, before focusing his attention back on Dustin. "Okay."

Dustin smiled at both of them happily and went back to looking over the living room. There wasn't a lot left to do; with all the popcorn cleaned up Cam just needed to move all the bowls and cups into the kitchen for washing. He would do the dishes tomorrow.

"It's late," Cam said, motioning to the clock. "I can finish this up."

Dustin was across the room in a second, intercepting the tech’s hand before he had reached for his crutches.

"No way dude," the other teen said resolutely, shaking his head.

Shane smiled calmly, but his eyes were stubborn. "Really Cam, we're almost done."

_And that's why I can finish up._

Cam wasn't incapable of doing simple tasks, he wasn't going to break. Not anymore than he already had, at least.

He frowned and tried to delicately shake Dustin's hand off.

"Won't your parents get worried?" he asked. His effort to extricate his hand was met with a small glare, and Dustin squeezed his hand a little harder.

Shane shrugged and began piling up the bowls. "Mine think I'm studying at Dustin's"

"My mom's working late," Dustin added, gently pulling Cam's crutches out of reach with an apologetic look on his face.

Cam resisted the urge to glare when he realized he had processed such information before.

When was it?

"She was working late Friday too," he stated, and immediately regretted it. That hadn't been the way he wanted to start this conversation.

Dustin tensed and released Cam’s hand, looking at the floor with a smile plastered on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Well, she works late a lot," he mumbled. He leaned the crutches back against Cam's chair and quickly moved about the room gathering cups. "She's a hard working lady," Dustin continued, this time meeting both of their eyes.

Were it not for the earlier lapse in demeanor, Cam would say the trailing comment was delivered in Dustin's usual cheerful fashion. However, he and Shane knew better. But this wasn't the time to address that.

Cam chose his words carefully.

"I didn't say she wasn't," he replied in a calm voice, not softer since Dustin would notice if Cam was placating him. The tech had to fight to not hold his hands up; it was a calming gesture that the yellow ranger was well aware of, and Cam didn't want him to feel that they _needed_ him…calm?

When did everything get so confusing?

In the precious seconds Cam was over-analyzing the situation, some of the tension left Dustin's shoulders and his smile became more genuine, feeling, no doubt (as Cam and Shane did) as though he had dodged the bullet. Dustin grabbed the bowls out of Shane's hand.

"I'll go wash these," the yellow ranger declared brightly before ducking out of the room with a little more speed than necessary.

Cam let out a sigh and rubbed the side of his head, cursing himself for the slip up. Dustin's family (aside from his sister) was not a subject the other teen spoke much of and, while Cam had never witnessed any obvious signs of abuse, he couldn't help but feel there was something wrong with Dustin's home situation. He didn't have enough data for to get a concrete answer, but he had a strong theory. Until he was sure though, he had settled for giving the yellow ranger all the support he needed.

He couldn't completely drown out the nagging voice in the back of his mind that told Cam he secretly loved it.

He was terrible.

"You worried?"

The sound of Shane's voice brought the tech out of his thoughts, and he glanced up to see the red ranger emulating his concern. Of course Shane would have noticed. Cam would have prodded him for answers if Dustin's defensive reaction had been aimed solely at himself. However, Dustin was avoiding both of them, meaning that Shane was as much in the dark as Cam was.

"Yes," he replied, searching the red ranger for answers.

Realization lit up Shane's eyes and the other teen shook his head.

"Me too," he admitted.

So they both had nothing. Cam shook off his frustration.

"I'll keep an eye on it.”

It was an unnecessary comment, but it made him feel better.

"Okay.”

And that, for now, was the end of that.

Shane sat down, electing to sit on the side of the couch that was closest to Cam. He ran a hand through his hair, gathering his thoughts, before deciding to break the silence. "I was thinking…"

"What?" Cam interrupted.

Shane gave Cam a startled look as though he hadn't expected it (which was bubkis (Dustin's word), because he had been baiting Cam), before allowing a small smile to spread over his face.

The tech fidgeted uncomfortably.

"You weren't that bad," Shane answered, reaching his arms up and stretching before plopping back against the couch.

Unfortunately Cam missed the actions because his mind pretty much froze at Shane's comment.

_Hell?_

Cam was ashamed to say that his immediate thoughts on _that_ particular statement were naive and immature (which was stupid because nothing had _happened_ to warrant them to be as such), adequate for an average high schooler but never for someone of his standings and his cursed figurative elephant had gone from simply standing in the room to doing an elaborate fan dance with rave lights a blazing.

Being that Cam had no previous experience like this to draw a response from, he settled for just asking for the clarification he needed and hoped his face didn't catch on fire in the meantime.

"…What?" he asked, feeling proud that he had managed to keep his voice steady.

Luckily, Shane had tried to be nonchalant about this conversation (a curse that Hunter had started) and had taken to staring at the coffee table in wait of his response and had missed Cam’s episode of panic.

"At the park," he clarified, looking back at Cam. "With a little practice you could really shred it."

It still took the tech a few seconds to figure out what Shane meant. He must have been blinking stupidly because the air ninja decided to take pity on him and motioned to his foot.

Oh…right, the whole skateboard thing.

Cam took a breath and pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"I only did that as an experiment," he said calmly, feeling a bit like his old self.

Shane raised an eyebrow at him but continued, "What do you do to relax?"

Why did people find that _so_ important? Did they ever stop to think that Cam might _enjoy_ doing his work?

Okay, so he didn't always, but someone had to do it and he didn't have time for distractions.

Like elephants.

 _Damn it_.

"You know," Cam began, ignoring his internal bout. "Dustin's asked me the same question."

_So maybe you should shut up._

Shane frowned as though Cam had voiced that thought aloud and wagged a finger at him. "You're avoiding the question."

**_You're_ ** _avoiding the question._

Now he was just being petty.

"I'm busy," Cam insisted tersely, grabbing his crutches.

He would go help Dustin in the kitchen, speed up the process so he could have some time to think.

"I know," Shane coaxed, not bothering to hide _his_ placating. "But everyone needs a little stress release." He caught Cam's intent to get up and quickly went into action, gently tugging his crutches away (despite popular belief Cam _could_ move without those) and sat down on the armrest of the chair, throwing an arm around Cam's shoulder and more or less pinning him in place. The tech knew at least three ways to get out of the hold easily, but decided that such tactics would only serve to alienate him more. Besides, if Shane was actually trying to reach out to him, the least he could do was listen.

"Get to the point," Cam grumbled, narrowing his eyes slightly.

He didn't say he had to be happy about it.

Shane smiled, "Let me teach you how to shred." Cam looked at him disbelievingly. "We'll take it slow," he assured.

 _I'm sure we will_.

Cam wondered if Shane would think it odd for him to call a time out so that he could bang his head against the wall a few times.

"Are you serious?" Cam asked, pitch rising slightly.

Shane didn't catch it.

"Deadly." He smirked. "As soon as that thing heals up, I can start showing you the ropes."

" _That thing_ " being Cam’s ankle.

_No. No. No. No. nononononononononono-_

He had stuff to do, it was important, he couldn't just-

Cam attempted to try and express these feelings. "I don't-"

"Cam," Shane interrupted, staring at him hard.

 _And_ that was it. Just "Cam".

In all honesty, that was all he needed to say.

This was an olive branch, and Cam needed to take it. Besides, this way Dustin's gear wouldn't go to waste.

"…it was a little fun," Cam admitted, earning a smile from Shane. "Before I wiped out.”

That _hadn't_ been fun.

Shane laughed.

"Ate it," he corrected, patting Cam on the shoulder. "Surfers wipe out."

Cam shrugged. "I was unaware the verb was exclusive."

He was pretty sure it could be applied either way.

Ridiculously proud worked well on Shane's face. "Learn something new everyday."

 _Indeed_.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The internet was a wonderful thing.

In Hunter's opinion, at least.

There was truly no other way to put it. You wanted something, you wanted to _know_ something, someone, anything at all, you just had to type it in, hit search, and answers come flooding down on you in never ending waves. Sure, not all of them were going to pertain to the particular something/someone/anything that you happened to be searching for but, somewhere in the middle of it, the answer was going to appear.

It was quick, it was fast, and it was incredibly convenient.

So that was why when Hunter hit the one hour mark of perusing the local movie theater's website to get tickets for the Martial Arts film festival that was showing Fists of Fire 2, he was just about ready to go Thunder Ranger on his computer.

Seriously, who designed this website? It had the worst layout in the world. Most places would _want_ you to spend money but **_no_** _,_ not this place. This place had links to its history, mission, vision, viewing history, reviews, newspaper articles that had even the slightest mention of the theater, menu for the snack bar, accommodations for meetings and birthdays, ticket _prices,_ even a link that described the festival he _desperately_ wanted to attend, but nowhere (and he would know because he had looked, thoroughly), **_nowhere_** could he find a place to actually _buy_ tickets.

It wouldn't be so bad if Hunter could just go to the theater to make his purchase (he always felt better about buying things in person anyway, using cash), but this tiny theater was insistent on stepping into the technological age, so it only offered the tickets online. That was, if you could find them.

Hunter could not.

The sound of the key scraping against the lock indicated that Blake was done with his shift at Storm Chargers (he was late by about fifteen minutes, so that meant that he had stopped to flirt with Tori). _Ah_ , Tori; that poor soul. If Blake continued at his normal rate he _might_ ask her out around the time they finished saving the world from Lothor. Hunter loved his brother, but his ideas of taking it slow made a snail look like Speed Racer. _He_ knew it was Blake’s way of respecting Tori, and also his way of ensuring he didn't get hurt _just_ in case he had misread any signals. Hunter had told his brother time and time again to just ask her _out_ already, because it was really starting to get sad, but Blake was insistent.

Slow and steady.

So, like Hunter said, poor Tori.

"You're late," he pointed out gruffly, not bothering to look up from their worn-out laptop that was in their sparsely decorated, sad excuse for a living room.

The blond already knew the reason why, but this was the way they usually ended up greeting each other.

At least when _he_ was late it was a surprise.

"I was talking to Tori," Blake replied, the sound of his jacket and keys being placed on the wall hook preempted him crossing the room and leaning on the back of Hunter's chair. "What are you doing?"

Hunter glared harder at the screen, willing the internet to cooperate. "I'm _trying_ to get us tickets to the Martial Arts Film festival."

They had been talking about it for over two weeks now. Fists of Fire had been one of their favorite movies and they had never gotten a chance to see the sequel. It had been released almost after…well, then. That thing that left them with no parents. But now they were big boys who could deal with happy memories from before…then, and as soon as Blake heard about the festival Hunter had started seeking out tickets. Between work, training, and ranger duties it was difficult to get in some brother bonding time. Unless sleeping in the same room counted as bonding. But Hunter wasn't really feeling it.

Blake snickered beside him, hands kneading his shoulders. "I assume that's not going very well."

_No, it's going_ **_wonderful._ ** _In fact I got the tickets hours ago; I just kept staring at the screen because I_ **_love_ ** _the idea of damaging my eyesight. It makes me happy._

Hunter settled on a response that was less of an attack on Blake's stupid comment. "I wanna find the guy who made this website and set his house on fire."

Actually, he was leaning more towards murder, but Sensei Kanoi might look down on that just a little.

"That bad?" Blake asked, choosing to make himself less of a nuisance (and guaranteeing his continued uninjured state of being) by continuing his massage, pressing into Hunter's shoulders.

"Worse," Hunter grumbled, triple clicking the mouse angrily when his selected link refused to load.

So what if it wouldn't speed up the process? It made him feel better.

"Let me take a look," Blake demanded, halting his ministrations. Hunter growled but moved aside, looking forward to his brother's imminent failure. He was willing to admit it wasn't a nice thing to hope for, but with all his snarkiness Blake needed to be taken down a few pegs. If any website could do it, this was the one.

Hunter stretched lazily, kicking his legs back to get the blood circulating again.

"I've already been through this entire website," he lectured, popping his neck. "And I'm telling you there is absolutely no page that-"

"Got it," Blake interrupted. Hunter almost didn't hear him because of his rant; he had it all thought out and everything. He had intended to end it by insulting Blake's intelligence or something of the like.

Instead, there he was, blinking in wonderment before he bent closer to the screen to see that yes, Blake had found it.

"Top right corner," his brother continued, smug face on. "Bright green box."

It was all Hunter could do to not smash Blake's head into the laptop screen.

"I hate you," he groused, smacking the back of his brother's head anyway.

 _That_ was for the smug face.

Blake's smile widened as he casually brushed pretend dust off of his shoulders. "Don't hate the player; hate the game."

"Whatever," Hunter grunted, pushing on Blake's shoulder. "Move."

His brother appeased him, getting out of the way so he could order the tickets (Hunter had started this, he was going to end it). He had expected at least a little more gloating (because how could he have missed a lime green box anyway?) or maybe a little more massaging (that was more of a hopeless wish) but instead Blake seemed to settle on pacing back and forth behind him, awkwardly shifting his weight whenever he came to a halt. This was a bright neon sign that showed he was thinking about something that made him nervous.

So it was something to do with Tori.

If he asked him for girl advice one more time, Hunter was going to sling him out the window.

Blake halted his walk suddenly and cleared his throat. "Hey, ah…could you get an extra ticket?"

Oh, good, not girl talk. Well, not _girl_ talk, talk _about_ girls…

"Would this extra ticket be for Tori?" Hunter asked, copying Blake's smug tone from earlier as he glanced behind him.

The navy ranger frowned, not appreciating the irony.

"Is there something wrong with that?" he asked, crossing his arms defensively.

There was no way Hunter would have anything wrong with that because this was his brother, but something about girls tended to make Blake stupid.

Hunter informed him of this delicately.

For him.

"No," Hunter replied, rolling his eyes. "But you should know it's not really a date when your brother tags along." He _did not_ feel like chaperoning. "Unless you two don't want me to sit with you." He wasn't fond of the idea, but he was willing to go with it for Blake's sake.

"What?" his brother looked confused. "No, it's not a date," Blake insisted, collapsing on a bean bag chair and waving his hands. "I just want to hang out with her."

Hang out?

_Poor Tori._

Hunter didn't bother arguing about it because Blake wasn't going to budge on the issue, so the blond settled for scoffing sarcastically. It was a thing he did very well.

" _O-kay_ ," he taunted, turning back around to amend the ticket order. Being the third wheel didn't sound like the best of times but this was Fists of Fire 2, and Hunter wasn't ducking out on it. Tori would just have to deal, for now.

Hunter would make it up to her later.

There was a repetitive tapping noise emanating from Blake's general direction, a pen he was clicking against the window sill, another subconscious thinking habit.

"You should invite someone," his brother threw out, interrupting his repetitive beating.

"I did," Hunter replied casually. "I invited you."

The blond knew what Blake meant, but he had meant this to be a brother trip. Sure, friend time (or girlfriend time to the ever-protesting Blake) was fun, but it wasn't the same. Also, Hunter hadn't had very much time to reevaluate his options.

"I don't count," Blake insisted, moving the pen from the window to his leg.

Hunter scoffed (see, he was great at it). "Last I checked-"

"One of the other guys," Blake clarified, not waiting for his brother to spin a yarn. If allowed Hunter would've just kept going until the matter was dropped. Unfortunately that strategy had stopped working on Blake years ago.

It never hurt to try.

"No," Hunter pressed. "No way am I getting tangled up in that mess."

He wasn't sure _what_ was going on there, and he didn't want to get mixed up with it until he had some kind of clarification.

Blake's tapping stopped. "What mess?"

"Are you blind?" Hunter asked, looking at his brother incredulously. He knew Blake was a little Tori-struck, but they had been less than a foot away from them on Monday, and it wasn't like the show (that they were now going to watch every week) was exactly super enthralling.

For goodness sake it had been going on _right in front of them._

"What?" Blake repeated, sounding genuinely confused.

Hunter shook his head and continued typing in information. "You're hopeless."

Blake, unsatisfied with Hunter’s lack of answer, got up and repositioned himself behind the blond, leaning over his shoulder to look him in the eye.

"What mess?" he repeated, starting to look a little annoyed.

Hunter sighed and started ticking off points on his fingers. "Shane…Cam…Dustin." Well, if he thought about it- "Actually, I'm not sure about Dustin."

He seemed like the kind of guy who was affectionate to everybody. At least, the people he cared about.

Hunter could understand that.

Blake looked at the crimson ranger hard one more time before giving up on getting an answer, rocking back on his heels.

"Then invite _him_ , seeing as he's not involved in this figurative mess you don't feel like talking about," he finished with obnoxious finger quotes and a dramatic sigh.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "If you didn't notice it, you don't get to talk about it."

He didn't want to get Blake involved in it either. Not-talking about it would protect everyone from the navy ranger committing unknowing acts of stupidity.

"Fine," Blake huffed, walking back to his chair. "Hey, whatever it is, there are three of them, so they can't all be taken."

_Assuming I'm interested._

Hunter had long discovered he was bisexual, having no particular preference for either sex. It made sense to him; if someone made him happy then they made him happy, and he wasn't going to discount them just because of their gender. Blake readily accepted that, encouraging him to go after…well, anybody. He just wanted Hunter to be happy. Unfortunately, this also meant that he tried to set Hunter up with anything that had a pulse. Sure, the blond was bisexual, but that didn't mean he was without standards.

He was still working on getting that through Blake's head.

Hunter made a show of a thoughtful expression to indicate he was listening. "I guess you have a point."

"Of course I do," Blake replied, sounding pleased to have essential set up a double date. Or "double hang-out" in his book.

That was, if Dustin said yes.

"Okay," Hunter said, checking his email account for the order confirmation. "Four tickets ordered; they should be here on Friday."

Just in the knick of time.

"Way to cut it close," Blake joked, standing up from his bean bag with a groan and heading towards their kitchenette.

Hunter scowled at his back.

"Shut it Blake," he growled, copying his brother's movements and joining him in the kitchen. With all of his computer troubles he had forgotten about eating; now his stomach was protesting tenfold.

They were halfway through making their sandwiches when Blake broke the silence with a casual question, "What do you think I should wear?"

Hunter groaned and shook his head quickly, slathering on some mustard at high speed and finishing his sandwich.

"No, _no_ ," he muttered. "We're not doing this conversation."

_We are not having this conversation_ **_ever_ ** _._

The weather wasn't _that_ bad; he could eat lunch on the balcony and avoid this issue completely.

Plan prepared, he grabbed a soda out of the fridge and ducked out, door shutting just before he heard Blake's confused, "What?" call out behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	10. Agony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during "Pork Chopped".

Whenever Dustin was working on a bike, he felt like he was at the top of his game, focusing so intently on his work that he tended to blur everything else out until he was in his own little world, where it was just him and the bike and sheer awesomeness.

He got a lot of good thinking done that way.

And that was why he didn't immediately catch on when Hunter came up and started a conversation with him. At least, Dustin assumed there was a conversation going on; like he said, he wasn't too sure. The brunette had only noticed the other ranger when he reached over to grab a certain tool and was blocked by a solid clothed wall. A solid, clothed, warm wall that felt a lot like a person. With abs.

Startled, the earth ninja pulled his hand back and looked over to see that Hunter had been leaning against the table right beside him, and was giving him an incredulous look.

"Did you catch any of that?" the crimson ranger asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"…No?" Dustin replied, wracking his brain in case he might have caught something.

Yeah, he had nothing.

Hunter nodded slowly, looking over the pieces that lay scattered around the broken bike.

"I get that way too," he said suddenly, sharp eyes turning back to Dustin. "When I work on bikes."

"Really?" Because that would be seriously awesome if Dustin wasn't like the lone-doofus who couldn't pay attention to his surroundings.

Not that Hunter was a doofus or anything.

"Sure," Hunter replied, willing to go along with it. He blinked a couple of times before gesturing hesitantly towards Dustin's face. "You got something…"

"Where?" the yellow ranger asked, looking wildly around for a mirror. _Nertz_ , he must have gotten some oil on his face. He wished he kept more reflective things in the shop so he could see for sure.

"Eyebrow," Hunter said, sounding just the tiniest bit amused.

Sure, laugh at Dustin's pain. See how you felt about it when it happened to you.

Except it wouldn't happen to him, because he was Hunter, and he actually _thought_ about what he did before he did it.

"Oh…" Dustin mumbled, searching for a rag. He spotted one tucked into his tool kit and yanked it out so he could get rid of the mess as fast as he could. It was halfway to his face before Hunter lunged at him suddenly, grabbing the rag and pulling it out of Dustin hand.

"Don't!" he shouted, and Dustin was about to ask him in which of the past few seconds he had lost his mind when Hunter turned the rag over (the part Dustin had been _going_ to use) to reveal a gigantic blotch of oil.

See, there was that thinking-before-doing-stuff thing again.

Dustin just didn't have the hang of it yet.

"Here," Hunter began more calmly; tossing aside the dirty cloth and locating a clean one. "Let me get it."

Dustin was about to protest (because he wasn't _that_ incapable) but Hunter had already grabbed his face with one hand and began the process of wiping whatever mess Dustin managed to get on himself away. During the process, the mechanic couldn't help but think about how surprisingly gentle Hunter was being. Dustin would have thought the crimson ranger would be a lot rougher about it, being the gruffest of the rangers. Maybe he was kind of like Cam. Or a Nestle Drumstick. He was all hard and covered with nuts on the outside but on the inside he was all soft and sweet and stuff.

And incredibly delicious.

Hunter pulled the rag away delicately, giving Dustin's eyebrow one last look over to make sure he had gotten everything before casually tossing the rag aside and resuming his old position of leaning against the table, acting as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Then again, they _did_ fight an evil space ninja on a day-to-day basis, so Dustin supposed it _was_ nothing out of the ordinary.

It was all about perspective.

"Thanks," Dustin replied cheerfully, rubbing the spot where the other teen's hand had been as the heat climbed up to his face. He turned back to his work quickly in an attempt to hide it and missed Hunter's smirk.

"You're welcome," the other ranger replied, beginning to sound more like his smug self.

Well, that wasn't fair; Hunter wasn't smug _all_ the time. The crimson ranger had just gotten a terrible first impression with the others because of the whole "being-lied-to" thing, so Dustin just had the tendency to _think_ he was always smug. But he wasn't. He was actually a pretty chill guy.

Dustin cleared his throat awkwardly, keeping his eyes on the table. "How long have you been…?"

"Only a few minutes," Hunter confirmed as the tool Dustin had originally been reaching for slid into his view on the table, coming to a rest by his hand.

Dustin grimaced and accepted the tool, mumbling, "Nuts."

Well, a few minutes wasn't too bad.

"It's okay," Hunter assured, patting Dustin on the arm hesitantly before pulling back, like he was afraid the mechanic was going to wig out on him or something, which Dustin wasn't, but he could understand where the blond was coming from.

Finally composed, Dustin chanced looking back over to him, wondering what Hunter had been talking about in the first place.

The crimson ranger caught his confusion and backpedaled, easily restarting the conversation. "Blake and I got tickets to see Fists of Fire 2 at the Martial Arts Film Festival, and I was wondering if you wanted to come."

Pure joy was Dustin's immediate response to the invitation.

"Fists of Fire 2! I love that movie!"

He did; he had seen it with Shane at least a dozen times, and it was easily one of his top ten favorite movies. He had missed it when it had come to theaters (something he was incredibly disappointed about) and had only seen it on a television screen. To go see it at an actually theater would be _so cool._

"That a yes?" Hunter asked, victorious look on his face.

Dustin didn't know what the crimson ranger was happy about; _he_ was the one that just got a free ticket to one of the greatest movies of all time.

"Sure!" the yellow ranger replied, good mood returning. "When is it?"

"Tomorrow," the other teen said, pointing off to the side as though there was an invisible calendar. "Three o'clock at Hollywood Cinema."

This would be awesome, Dustin couldn't wait to-

Wait, what was tomorrow?

_Saturday_.

There was something about that Dustin was supposed to remember, something he was supposed to do.

"Saturday?" he asked, trying to get clarification. Maybe it was Thursday and he had just gotten confused.

But Hunter nodded his head to confirm it. "Yeah."

Saturday. Saturday. Saturday. What was-

_The demo_. Shane's Skate Competition was on Saturday and he had been talking about it all week. While Dustin hadn't _promised_ he was going to be there, his presence was pretty much guaranteed. Shane went to every one of his races and Dustin always returned the favor. Except you don't race in skateboarding, but a demo was pretty much the same thing. Shane was scheduled to compete at three, the exact same time the movie started, so there was no way Dustin could do both. He would have to turn Hunter down.

It was such a shame; he had really wanted to go.

The brunette’s shoulders sagged dejectedly. "I can't go," he sighed, fiddling with a stray bike part. "Shane's got a demo I promised to go to."

Wait, _no_ , Dustin was not going to be sad about missing this. Shane had probably missed plenty of cool stuff for him; the least he could do was return the favor.

"That's cool." Hunter didn't look too upset about it (not in a, _"oh-I-didn't-really-want-you-to-come"_ kind of way, Dustin assured himself). "Maybe some other time," the blond finished casually, reaching over and squeezing Dustin's shoulder to confirm his not-angry state.

Dustin was mildly surprised by this. "Really?"

So maybe he wouldn't get to see Fists of Fire 2 in a theater, but _any_ movie was good for him as long as he had good company. He wasn't all that picky.

Dustin waited expectantly. It was okay if this was only a one time offer; Hunter didn't have to humor him.

He had maintained his casual appearance but Hunter's eyes had this funny look in them, like he was searching for something.

"Yeah," he replied.

The excitement came back. "Awesome, I'll even buy the tickets next time."

Hunter waved at him no. "Don't sweat it man, I got this."

Dustin was a little miffed about his rejected gift but the movie thing was still on so he didn't comment on it, settling for happily agreeing. "Okay."

Hunter smirked again and gave Dustin one last arm pat before turning to leave. "Later man."

Hunter Bradley, coolness incarnate.

"Later," Dustin called after him, waving at his back.

Maybe he could convince him to go on Monday, when they get off work early.

Yes, Monday would be good.

-:-:-:-:-:-

180 Fakie to Backside Rail slide.

She was a fickle beast; delicate, feisty, and difficult. If you could tame her, you clearly took a step forward in skill level, unquestionably noting yourself as one of the best of the best.

Shane had yet to land one.

He thought (under Dustin's suggestion because these kinds of things tended to work for him) that the pressure of an audience would be enough to get Shane that extra _"umf"_ he needed to complete the move triumphantly, leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that _he_ was a person with mad skills. Unfortunately, this had not been the case, and just like every time he had ever attempted it, he ate it big time.

Ironically enough Tori congratulated him on this accomplishment.

Shane knew she wasn't very educated in the ways of skateboarding, but he had thought he had spoken about it enough for her to understand that falling was bad. Maybe she was just trying to stay optimistic, or make him feel better, or some girl-mind trick he didn't understand and didn't want to bother _trying_ to understand. Anyway, even if it made no sense he was willing to ignore any negative feelings he had about it.

And then he had watched her ninja streak off into the distance after she insisted on getting them drinks they didn't need and he decided it would be okay to be just the _tiniest_ bit mad at her. He entertained the idea that she was leaving because of his "wipeout" (Cam got him in the habit of thinking it) for about two seconds (he was allowed to be a little self conscious) when Shane got smart and realized that her earlier reaction only made sense if she _hadn't_ seen his run. He put two and two together and figured out that this hadn't been her first streak away, and he couldn't help but wonder what she had that was so important she needed to keep secret and couldn't possibly miss.

And then Shane got a little bit more than slightly mad at her.

Luckily (or unluckily because it _did_ stop him from chasing her down and demanding answers) there was a swarm of Kelzaks that happily presented themselves (courtesy of Marah) so Shane took out all his anger on those, smacking them with random lawn chairs and thanking whatever power it was that kept people from wandering in on their slugfest because he didn't particularly feel like morphing at the moment (it would be like putting a boxing glove on, the hits wouldn't be nearly as satisfying).

Between Dustin and himself the herd had been thinned down significantly, only leaving what Shane had dubbed as the "Straggler Kelzaks". While Kelzaks were always easy to beat, the last few at the end of every fight tended to be just especially pathetic (at fighting, at ducking, at _everything_ ), so much so that they tended to be the most fun to deal with, letting the rangers experiment with their fighting styles and ninja powers. Many a new combo had come from Straggler Kelzaks. Shane was in the middle of grappling one into another that seemed to be frantically attacking the leg of a pop-up Gazebo when a chair whizzed by him and smacked into his intended target, leaving it flailing on the ground miserably.

Poor, poor straggler, it never stood a chance.

Shane chucked his Kelzak on top of the other one anyway (his grapples were a little rusty and he was kind of committed by that point) and looked over his shoulder to see Dustin wave at him apologetically and shrug (something that Shane interpreted as a "I couldn't help it, I caught the lawn chair fever" sort of motion). The red ranger smiled back at him because he knew how addictive using the plastic seats as weapons was.

Marah, seeing that she'd been beat, made a hasty withdrawal, leaving the two rangers alone and surrounded by toppled cheap furniture, lying haphazardly on the ground in positions they were never intended to be in. It looked a little like a drunken artist's attempt at modern art, assuming the artist had a repressed hatred for lawn chairs.

Dustin offered his fist and Shane bumped it, pleased with their work, and then the red ranger recalled why they had run over there in the first place and the anger started building up again.

Thankfully Dustin started the conversation so he didn't get a chance to say anything stupid.

"Where do you think Kapri is?"

_That_ was a pretty good question. Usually Marah and Kapri attacked together. In fact (now that Shane thought about it), they had _always_ fought together. Even when the team was split up, they usually attacked one of the groups as one, playing as back up for one another. Having them apart now was just… _odd._

So where was Kapri?

Shane could only think of one answer.

"With the others most likely," he replied, allowing himself one last kick to an idle lawn chair (because he was the leader and he couldn't waste any more time pouting) before he tried to figure out what the endgame was here.

Dustin’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Tori, or Hunter and Blake?" he asked, staring at the chair as though it should divulge great secrets.

"Maybe Tori's _with_ Hunter and Blake?" Shane groused absentmindedly, focusing on Kapri's whereabouts so intensely that he almost missed Dustin's reaction.

"Really?" the yellow ranger asked, scratching his chin, thoughful. "Maybe they gave her my ticket."

Now it was Shane's turn to be confused. "What?"

_"What ticket?"_ and _"Ticket to what?"_ were the next questions he wanted to ask but Shane held them back when he realized that yes, Tori _was_ with Hunter and Blake, and secondly (and far less important but he thought about it anyway), Tori _wasn't_ their first choice to go to whatever it was, _Dustin_ was. And in a way this made sense; Dustin was the first person to try and befriend the Bradleys back when they were the new guys (they still were, just not _as_ new) so they were just trying to return the favor and that sat okay with Shane, which brought up his spirits somewhat.

"Fists of Fire 2," the other teen continued, smiling fondly in memory of the movie. "Hunter asked if I wanted to go see it with them today, but it started at the same time as your demo."

Shane nodded, figuring how this played out. Dustin couldn't go so Blake had asked Tori (because, even though they wouldn't admit it, they were dating) and _she_ decided she could be in two places at once and said yes.

"And that's where Tori is," Shane finished, sharing his conclusion with Dustin, who kicked weakly at the ground, upset.

It wasn't really lying, but any kind of deceit bothered the yellow ranger. He valued honesty above all else.

"Weak," the Dustin mumbled, combing his hands through his hair.

Shane reached over and gave his back a comforting pat. "Yeah."

The feeling didn't pass, but the skater knew they had wasted enough time here. If Marah was just on decoy duty, the real attack had to be with Kapri and the others.

"Where's the theater?"

"Hollywood Cinema," Dustin replied, slightly more confident, and Shane nodded in confirmation before turning and streaking off in the direction of the cinema, not bothering to worry about the rule breaking (Sensei might as well dole out the punishments to all of them if he was going to get on Tori’s case) and Dustin followed his lead eagerly.

_Get there, find Kapri, take her out._

There, plan ready.

Sometimes you just have to keep it simple.

-:-:-:-:-:-

So Dustin wasn't the smartest guy; he knew this, his team knew this, his teachers knew this (and he'd become pretty okay with it because he liked to think he made up for this with his cheerful personality), but somehow, someway, _he_ managed to make the right choice when _Tori_ hadn't. Seriously Tor, bros before…other bros (he couldn't call Blake a ho, even in his mind). It was the rules. Dustin had _really_ (multiply that by infinity) wanted to go see Fist's of Fire 2 and _he_ hadn't gone, so why hadn't she made the same choice? Blake would have understood.

Shane, being far less upset than Dustin had thought he would be (but that was mostly because he'd gone into ranger mode; the feelings would come back later), brought them to a halt just outside the movie theater, signaling that now was the time for sneaking. They crept into the building slowly. Hollywood Cinema was one of the older, smaller theaters around town that only showed old favorites and foreign films, so it didn't usually have a lot of people. Still, with this Film Festival there could be a lot of civilians around, so Shane's main goal was to get the rest of the team out as quickly and quietly as possible so they could have the fight outside. The lobby, as Dustin had thought it was going to be, was empty, no signs of any suspicious people, weapons, or objects, and Shane waved him forward into the only theater and was slightly startled to find…nothing.

Well, nothing out of the ordinary (unless the theater _not_ being packed was out of the ordinary, which Dustin would argue it was if he wasn't so busy being stealthy).

Oh and there was a guy in a chicken suit holding a tray full of popcorn.

Dustin was _not_ going to question the marketing ploy on that one.

Shane was already halfway down the aisle, checking both sides of the room for the others, when chicken man halted his distribution of popcorn. Dustin thought he was about to blow the red ranger's cover to ask if he wanted to partake in the popcorn goodness when chicken man’s eyes began to glow this evil kind of red, and Dustin was already jump-kicking him hard before evil-chicken man could commit whatever evil-chicken deeds he'd planned in that twisted evil-chicken mind of his.

The earth ninja was lucky (by this Dustin meant that he hadn’t just imaginde the glow and attacked some poor schmuck in a chicken suit) and when his foot connected with chicken-man's chest it felt distinctly _not_ human, and then chicken-man was flying backwards into an audience of what now appeared to be Kelzaks. Then Evil-chicken man took off the suit and revealed himself to really be evil-pig man (which didn't have as nice a ring to it so Dustin understood why he went with the suit).

He heard the others move into action behind him, attacking Kelzaks, leaving Dustin and evil-pig man to fight one-on-one; at least, Dustin _tried_ to fight one-on-one with evil-pig man but then evil-pig man decided that he didn't appreciate Dustin's jump kick and hurled the brunette across the room, leaving him in the upper far corner. He didn't have time to morph before he was surrounded by his very own group of Kelzaks who seemed very intent on…throwing popcorn at him?

What, did they want him to eat it? Was it poisoned?

After a few blocks, Dustin jumped down a row and figured out that they were _not_ trying to throw popcorn at him, only one of them was, and it wasn't really trying to _throw_ the popcorn so much as it was just happening because it kept trying to hit Dustin with this futuristic looking popcorn container-thing that _looked_ like it tried to be a spaceship and failed.

Man, Kelzaks were _dumb._

Seriously? A popcorn container?

**_That's_ ** _your weapon of choice?_

Dustin was in the middle of rolling over a couple of seats (and an odd straw hat) when it dawned on him that he'd never seen a Kelzak fight with _any_ kind of weapon before. Why would they start to now? He decided for safety's sake to simply avoid the container thing and darted out of the Kelzaks reach, hopping down a few rows to team-up with Blake (who was also unmorphed) who _had not_ had popcorn thrown on him. Another look around told Dustin that no one else had either.

He must be special.

"Did it get to the part where they're fighting by the cars?" he asked, flipping a Kelzak over the row in front of them and watching it tumble unceremoniously to the ground.

"Yeah," Blake grunted in return, and Dustin heard him land a good punch that was followed by another Kelzak meeting the floor. "It was awesome."

_You don't have to rub it in_.

But Dustin had asked for it, so he wasn't too mad about it. Or, if he was, he channeled it into his fighting so he hadn't really noticed.

"Hey," the yellow ranger started again, pausing to duck a wild swing before returning the favor. "Avoid the popcorn bowl."

A startled noise came from Blake's direction but Dustin didn't bother worrying over it because he had his hands full, and across the room he saw Shane and Hunter tag teaming evil-pig man, using their newly found teamwork to the max.

"What?" Blake called back and Dustin had to tear his eyes away from _that_ fight (because he couldn't focus on _his_ fight and _their_ fight and talking to Blake at once) so that he could think of a proper response.

"The popcorn thing, they kept trying to hit me with it. Don't touch it," he warned, and he had to jump over another seat just so he could get into Blake's field of vision to point to the Kelzak that was throwing popcorn at him earlier, who was steadily making his way across the room and getting close to Tori.

Too close.

"You sure?" Blake asked nervously, noting its distance from his unofficial girlfriend, and he tried to fight his way closer to her but was blocked by five new Kelzaks that seemed to have dropped down from the ceiling.

Well, they were _ninjas_ , so it kind of made sense.

"Better safe than…popcorned?" Dustin replied, hurling one of his attackers into another before making the choice to be proactive.

He threw an odd salute to the navy ranger that he wasn't sure Blake caught and leapt onto the seat backs, hopping from row to row and dodging falling Kelzaks, making his way towards the Kelzak with the container that'd begun hurling popcorn on Tori. Now that Dustin could see it at a distance, it looked like the Kelzak wasn't just trying to hit her with the container, he was trying to hit her with the very top of it, not bothering to try and smack her with its sides. Holding it must not hurt you; it was what was on the inside that must be bad.

Situation evaluated, the yellow ranger leapt over the seats and barreled into his target, knocking the container to the ground. He gave the Kelzak a quick jab to the head to make sure it didn't get up before he scrambled across the ground and grabbed the container triumphantly. Dustin rolled to his feet and was about to use it on one of the Kelzaks (to see if it was really a weapon or just a stupid popcorn container) when a stray kick came out of nowhere and knocked it out of his hands.

In his mind the container flew through the air in slow motion, arcing dramatically over the mob of Kelzaks.

Another kick (probably from the same place as before) threw Dustin across the seats, and he pushed his head back so he could see where the container fell, hoping that it would hit evil-pig man so they could call it a day.

Dustin shoved the stray Kelzak that was hitting him away carelessly, never taking his eyes off the container and time seemed to freeze as it fell (top down) to where an unsuspecting Shane was helping Hunter off the ground. Dustin yelled just as the container hit the skater’s back, and the two red rangers were suddenly no more, vanished into thin air. Evil-pig man laughed and snatched the container up off the ground before Dustin could barrel his way across the room and _make_ him give back their friends, and suddenly he was gone too, leaving Dustin, Blake, and Tori in an empty theater with popcorn strewn all over the place.

His best friend was gone because of him, (they'd get them back, because that was what they did), but that didn't change the fact it had happened and that was when the real agony kicked in.

When Dustin woke up this morning, he never would have thought he'd want to swear off popcorn.

But right now he kind of did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	11. Accident Waiting to Happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place during "Pork Chopped"

The fight had been immediate, throwing them all into action without allowing them the chance to morph, but for the most part, Shane had thought it had gone all right. The arrangement of the seating limited the amount of Kelzaks that could attack them (depending on where you were standing) and while the seats might have impeded _their_ attack mobility, it impeded the giant pig monster's _more._ Shane and Hunter had ended up tag teaming the pig guy, and they were making short work of him until Hunter had gotten blindsided by a falling Kelzak and was unceremoniously thrown to the ground. Shane had been in the middle of helping the blond get up when something hit his back and suddenly everything went dark and the fight disappeared.

No, it wasn't that the fight had disappeared; it was more like he and Hunter had disappeared from the fight and _reappeared_ after the darkness had passed in a giant box with red and white stripes on the wall. The walls led up to a white circular shaped disc (lid maybe?) thing on the ceiling. Shane’s first thought was alternate dimension, and _damn,_ those things were _really_ starting to get old, and then he realized that he was standing in about two feet of cloudy, yellow, oily liquid that appeared to have…giant pieces of popcorn floating in it.

Which meant…

They were in a popcorn container. They'd been foiled by an evil popcorn container.

Where did Lothor come up with this stuff?

Despite the number of things the red ranger _should_ be worried about (like how to get _out_ and how they got _in_ ), Shane couldn't help but feel a little relieved that Hunter was trapped in here with him. If the crimson ranger wasn't, Shane would have never been able to live it down. Speaking of whom, Hunter was still on the ground (as he had been outside) and had successfully managed to become soaked in the liquid butter flavoring (Shane was pretty sure by this point it wasn't really butter). Mentally, Shane celebrated that the stuff had only soaked into the very bottom of his shorts.

As if Karma had read his mind, the container shook, throwing Shane to the ground and submerging him in the nasty oily awfulness. He broke up out of it as soon as he could and tried to shake himself off but the stuff was _everywhere_ , in his nose, his eyes, his _hair._ When he cleared his eyes he was greeted by a smirking Hunter, who had taken to leaning against the far wall (not much better off than the skater was, but celebrating it). Shane was about to glare at him and stand back up when the container rocked again and he was launched through the air. He slammed into the wall next to Hunter, sliding down it and ending up back in his liquid tormenter.

Okay, so no more snarky thoughts _ever_.

He had learned his lesson.

Hunter took pity on Shane and pulled him out of the golden flavoring, helping him get his back against the wall so that he could stabilize himself. Shane gave a shaky nod of thanks and motioned to their morphers; it was time to bust out of this popsicle stand. Hunter gave a look that showed he completely agreed and they moved into action, calling out their morphing commands and preparing to get _out_ of here and-

Nothing happened.

Shane took a second to blink stupidly, staring at his morpher in confusion, because it had never _not_ worked, and then he noticed that Hunter hadn't morphed either and was sharing in his befudlement.

"That can't be good," Shane murmured, rubbing some of the oil off of his face.

Hunter began shifting his weight (which was the only indication that Shane had ever gotten from him that meant he was nervous).

"Try blasting the lid off with air," Hunter suggested/ordered. Shane decided to take it as a suggestion.

With a calm breath, the red ranger closed his eyes and focused his energy, then unleashed a furious blast of air at the ceiling.

Instead of the desired result of opened lids quickly followed by freedom, his energy was contained within him. Try as Shane might to use it, nothing happened.

"I can't," the air ninja admitted, throwing a glare at the ceiling.

Hunter grunted beside him. Shane was about to tell him to go ahead and give it a try when the other teen took a solid stance away from the wall and closed his eyes, already one step ahead of him. Shane hadn't decided whether to be happy or peeved if the blond succeeded, and as it turned out, he didn't have to choose because it soon became apparent that Hunter couldn't access his powers either, and now both of them were glaring daggers at the ceiling.

Maybe they should be doing something more productive.

Eventually Shane gave up his staring contest.

"I think the container's…" He searched for the right word. "Nullifying our powers. Or like, muting them."

Hunter looked thoughtful. "Yeah," he finally agreed, moving to lean back against the wall.

The floor shifted underneath their feet, and Hunter smashed against the wall with an _"uff",_ while Shane's feet slid out from under him. He met the floor again, though luckily he didn't end up sucked underneath the yellow goo, instead he just had an uncomfortable sitting position. Hunter growled and lowered himself slowly, moving to sit beside Shane in the slimy badness. Obviously the container didn't like it when they stood.

Well, at least this way it would be easier to keep their balance.

"Now what?" Shane asked, glaring back at the ceiling.

So close but so far.

Hunter sighed and knocked an idle popcorn piece away, just as frustrated as he was. "I guess we wait."

_I guess we do._

Shane and Hunter, while they had managed to create a working relationship where they both kind of led (Shane wouldn't admit it because he was still the red guy and as Dustin insisted _that_ was who got to be in charge), hadn't really become friends. It should make situations like these awkward, and it kind’ve was, but he supposed now was as good a time as ever to fix that problem.

"So," the air ninja began, blinking his eyes to relieve some of the strain from glaring. "How was the movie?"

Hunter gave him a look, questioning the sudden topic, before eventually shrugging, and settled back against the wall. "Until the Kelzaks showed up, pretty good."

Which would ruin any movie event.

Shane searched for something else to say and eventually settled on, "Yeah, it's one of me and Dustin's favorites."

The container shook again, but it wasn't as major as before, and the two red rangers braced themselves against the wall and scrunched their eyes shut as more "butter" sloshed into their faces. The shaking passed and they sputtered, wiping the oil out of their eyes.

Hunter coughed and spat out some "flavor" that had made its way into his mouth. "I haven't gotten to see it yet."

Because a giant pig monster had attacked and trapped him in a container of butter, with just a hint of popcorn.

"Oh," Shane replied, and then realized he had nothing to add to that. "Well you should."

He wanted to wince at how lame that sounded.

Hunter gave a cough that could have been a laugh. "Yeah."

The comment was followed by an odd silence, in which both of them were trying to figure out what (and if) they should say. Eventually they both settled on a subject that had been of interest since the fight had started, but their timing was so matched that they turned to face each other at the same time.

"Was Tori-?" Shane asked just as Hunter started to say, "Did Tori-?"

They both stopped and snapped their mouths shut, staring at each other until eventually Hunter gave a shrug.

"Go for it," he said.

_Moment of truth_.

"Was Tori seeing the movie with you guys?" Shane asked, knowing the answer but seeking confirmation.

"Yeah," Hunter nodded, looking at him oddly. "Blake invited her to 'hang out'." The sarcasm was clear, complete with exaggerated air quotes. "She kept disappearing though," he finished, looking back at the red ranger, trying to get his own validation.

Shane sat back with a sigh, slumping against the wall.

"She was at the skate demo," he answered the silent question.

Hunter leaned back against the wall, understanding washing over him.

"Two places at once?" he asked, in a tone that said _"Wow, that's so bad a plan I'm surprised she actually came up with it, let alone tried to carry it out."_

Shane couldn't stop his chuckle. "Yeah."

Hunter gave a quiet laugh too, drawing a leg up to his chest to rest his arm on it. "Not effective."

"Nope," Shane agreed with a frown, wondering how exactly Tori's plan was going to work in the long run. How many excuses could you have to leave?

"I thought it was weird when she said she could come after Dustin turned me down."

Because Dustin had been their first choice.

Something bothered Shane though.

"Why'd you ask her then?"

All the answers he came up with were ridiculous.

What, were they trying to take his friends? See if they could woo Tori away with tickets? Were they always going to do this?

The red ranger frowned, folding his arms in thought.

Hunter caught his look. "I didn't," he insisted, and then went back to staring at the other wall. "Blake did, right after I gave him his tickets."

Oh…okay then.

Not trying to steal friends.

_Wait_.

" _His_ tickets?" Shane asked, trying to see if he heard correctly. Was Hunter not invited?

"Two for him, two for me," the crimson ranger replied, splashed idly in the oil.

Shane's look of continued confusion must have egged the blond into elaborating.

"Hey, I just wanted it to be a brother thing," Hunter said, frowning back at the ceiling. "He's the one who insisted on the dates."

Shane froze.

"Dates?" he asked, voice ridiculously calm considering how he felt inside.

Like _"date-dates"_?

Blake asking Tori, that would be a date, but Hunter asking Dustin, that wasn't a date.

It wasn't.

Hunter continued, not noticing Shane’s reaction.

"Hanging out, whatever he calls it. It's pretty much a date," Hunter said, not clarifying the he-and-Dustin part of it at all. The crimson ranger might enjoy being cool and mysterious, but Shane wasn't letting him off that easily; he wanted answers and he wanted them _now_.

"You asked Dustin out?" Shane pressed, struggling to keep his voice normal.

He didn't know what he was worried about (or why). Hunter would say no, they would have a laugh, and then they could make fun of Blake because Hunter didn't seem to have any issues with his brother's faults and then Shane would hurriedly change the subject and everything would be okay.

It would be fine.

But instead of the head shake he so desperately wanted, Hunter responded with a nod.

"Yeah," he replied, still looking at the ceiling. "He seemed cool with it."

The world may or may not have stopped for Shane at that moment.

He still wasn't sure what was or why it was bothering him.

Instead of focusing on it, his mouth kicked into action and spilled out the first thing that came to mind after that comment.

"You're gay?"

_No mouth, he asked Dustin out on a date because he was straight; he just gets his kicks that way._

Strangely enough Shane would have been relieved if that had been the answer, and the relief would be immediately followed by indescribable rage, but at the moment he could live with that.

Hunter finally looked back at him, warning in his eyes.

"Bi," he answered, a hint of warning in his tone. "Got a problem with it?"

His hard stare spurred Shane into action, making him actually think about the question. _Did_ he have a problem with it?

Hunter was a guy. Hunter was a guy on his team who liked girls _and_ boys.

Did Shane have a problem with this?

No, no he didn't.

"No," he replied after a few minutes.

Hunter stared the air ninja down for a few more seconds to make sure his answer was legit before eventually relaxing, slumping back against the wall in satisfaction.

"Okay then."

And for him the discussion was pretty much over.

If only that were true.

Shane pressed onward. "Did Dustin _know_ it was a date?"

Because, quite frankly, Shane couldn't make any sense of it any other way. Dustin had never given any signs that he liked guys (Shane thought) and the only way Dustin would have been excited about this (that was clear when he had finally told Shane about it) was if he thought it was just a hanging-out thing.

It was Hunter's turn to think this time. The blond cocked his head to the side and played around with the oil flavoring, a contemplative look on his face.

Eventually he shrugged. "I don't think so."

"Huh," Shane murmured (because his mouth seemed to enjoy racing in front of his brain) and he finally relaxed, happy to end the conversation there.

See, everything was okay. Blake asked Tori out, that was cool. Hunter was bi and that was cool. Hunter asked Dustin out on a date and Dustin didn't know it was a date so he said yes. The brunette _wouldn't_ have said yes if he had known it was a date.

There was a small voice asking if that was really the case.

Shane decided the voice was irrelevant and tried to block it out by focusing on playing his favorite song really loud over and over again in his head. He didn't get the chance to see if it would have worked as a distraction though, because Hunter decided they weren't done with the conversation.

"Is he gay?" Hunter asked, startling Shane just as he reached the chorus. The voice was gone, but now he was faced with an inquisitive crimson ranger who didn't look like he was going to back down any time soon.

"What?" Shane asked anyway, hoping he had heard wrong and Hunter had really asked _"Is he… gray?"_

So what if it didn't make any sense?

Hunter was unperturbed.

"You two are like, attached at the hip," he illustrated this by gesturing to Shane's. "So you would know right?"

His steady gaze let Shane know that silence wasn't an option, so the red ranger gave him the only answer he knew. "He's not gay."

There, the end. Stop trying to woo him.

St…start, no starting to try and woo him.

No wooing.

Red guy said so.

Hunter was persistent.

"You sure?" he asked, disbelief clear in his eyes. "Most guys don't talk about it."

_Have you even met Dustin? He talks about everything._

"Yeah, I'm sure," Shane replied, starting to get a little annoyed.

Then, despite his good judgment, he added, "He doesn't talk about that kind of thing," and then he immediately regretted it because that would only encourage Hunter.

"What kind of thing?" the other teen asked, starting to get a little angry himself. "The kind of thing where he likes guys?"

Shane choked. A little, not a lot.

Okay, maybe a lot. But it was a _ninja_ a lot, so Hunter didn't notice. Or he didn't care. That was probably more accurate.

The blond kept going.

"Or the kind of thing where he likes girls, or the kind of thing where he's romantically interested in anyone?"

The red ranger wilted slightly under his stare. "Dustin…likes everybody, he doesn't talk about romance," Shane admitted, because…he _didn't_.

That was so _weird_ ; Shane had never noticed that Dustin just didn't talk about that kind of thing. In fact, Shane had given up on talking about girls around the yellow ranger because the conversations never went anywhere. He always thought that was just because of the other teen had confidence issues.

No. It _was_ because of his lack of confidence; Hunter was just twisting this.

"So he's avoiding it," the crimson ranger concluded, nodding to himself.

_That_ pissed Shane off.

"He just doesn't think about it!" he insisted, turning his side to the wall to maintain eye contact with the other ranger better.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "He's _really_ touchy feely," he ticked off on his fingers. "More towards you and Cam than Tori; so it makes sense."

He said it as if it was the easiest thing in the world and everyone else had already come to that conclusion and _Shane_ was just being thick and not figuring it out.

They were coming real close to losing that teamwork thing they worked so hard to get.

"That he was gay?" Shane growled, _growled_ , before he could stop himself, and that got him a startled look from Hunter.

_Yeah, surprised I'm defending my friend?_

_You would be._

Hunter held up his hands in a placating way and tried to explain himself. "That he isn't as comfortable around women as he is around-"

"His friends?" Shane interrupted, because he wasn't sure how he would feel if Hunter finished that sentence. "He's just respecting Tori's space!"

Just like how _Shane_ respected Tori's space, and that didn't make him gay did it?

"And _your_ space doesn't need to be respected?" Hunter countered, raising his voice to match Shane's and suddenly they were in each others faces, glaring just like they had before the whole Bop-A-Roo thing. And then Hunter suddenly gave a sigh and plopped back against the wall, leaving Shane awkwardly squatting and glaring at nothing.

Gingerly, the red ranger resumed his old position just as Hunter sighed again and rubbed a hand across his face, mumbling, "I told Blake this was a bad idea."

Shane forgot he was mad for a moment to ask, "What was-?"

"This mess," Hunter interrupted, motioning to where an invisible mess would be. "Look," he started again, much calmer. "If you and him, or if he and Cam, or you and Cam _and_ Dustin have a _thing_ going on then I'm sorry and I'll stay out of it," he finished, holding his hands in surrender and Shane froze _again._

Since when was _he_ involved in this?

"We don't!" Shane sputtered, face heating up, and he would give anything for them to be rescued at this exact moment so that this conversation could be over and forgotten forever.

"They don't" he continued, thinking wildly about how _Cam_ of all people got pulled into this. "There is no _thing_ to be had here!" he finished, gesturing at where Hunter had indicated the _"mess"_ was and looking at the blond pleadingly because there was _no_ part of him that was enjoying this talk of theirs.

He tried to ignore the fact that he had started it.

Hunter looked up at him (and Shane didn't catch this at first because he was thinking about the idea of dating Cam _and_ Dustin and his subconscious kept congratulating him on being a pimp) slyly, before he asked, "You sure?"

"Yes!" Shane replied, trying to make this just end _(because he was not a pimp!)._

"Okay," Hunter said coolly, smile spreading across his face.

It appeared for the first time since they started this that he was actually letting this little "chat" of theirs stop. _That_ was when Shane got suspicious.

"Okay?" Shane mimicked. He was _not_ buying this.

"Okay," Hunter said again, and Shane thought- no, _knew_ , that the crimson ranger was distinctly pleased with himself.

And though he knew he probably wouldn't enjoy it, Shane decided to ask anyway. Even if it felt like he was walking right into a trap.

"What do you mean by _'Okay'_?"

Hunter wagged a finger at the red ranger innocently, and Shane's theory was proven true. "I mean, if I'm not stepping on anybody toes…"

"You're going to ask Dustin out?" Shane asked, pitch rising slightly.

"I'm going to let him decide how he feels," the blond declared, daring Shane to tell him differently.

"He's not gay," Shane insisted, curling his hand into a fist.

Maybe this box was making them crazy, on top of the power-stopping thing.

There'd been weirder things.

The coy look was off Hunter's face in an instant, and replaced with one of cool fierceness.

"Maybe he's not," he started, rising to look down on Shane. "And maybe he is," he offered and Shane was about to interrupt him but Hunter wouldn't have any of that. "Ultimately though, that's _his_ choice, not _yours_."

Shane felt his eyes widen in surprise and he tried to think of _something, anything_. "I'm not-"

"You're not comfortable with the idea," Hunter cut off, leaving no room for argument.

"I'm just not…not used to it," Shane admitted eventually, running a hand through his hair. "It's not something I think about."

Just like Dustin never thought about it.

That was right; Shane didn't know why he was worrying. Dustin would say no (when he found out it was a date) and they'd have a laugh about it later.

Hunter gave him an inspecting look.

Shane didn't like it, and struggled not to fidget. The crimson ranger was looking for things that weren't there.

"An unexplored option?" the blond offered, causing Shane to choke awkwardly on…air.

"I'm not gay," the red ranger insisted, and then he gave a look to let Hunter know that _he_ was leaving no room for argument.

He wasn't gay.

Hunter shrugged, unaffected by his declaration. "Then this shouldn't bother you."

Shane slumped back against the wall as they fell back into tense silence, one that he wasn't particularly bothered to break it anytime soon.

_It will be funny later_ , he promised himself, glaring at the ceiling.

Dustin would say no.

_No worries._

Shane closed his eyes and tried blasting his favorite song again, as loud as he could, but it no longer had the power to distract him, and eventually he gave in to his racing thoughts.

This _shouldn_ 't bother him.

But it did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	12. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after "Pork Chopped".
> 
> Thanks to the_real_vampire for beta-ing!

In hindsight, Dustin probably should have figured out that, the moment they finished off the evil pig monster, whatever voodoo magic that had trapped Shane and Hunter in the evil popcorn container would probably wear off, sending them back to normal size. See, if Dustin had thought of _that_ he wouldn't have insisted on keeping an eye on the container (and he wasn't the only one slipping because Tori and Blake had _let_ him do this, so hey, not _completely_ his fault) after they rescued it from General evil pig's special dimension. They had thought (he wasn’t sure _why_ but it made sense at the time) that maybe the pig and the container weren't related so they would just have to wait until they got back to Ninja Ops to get the red rangers out because of something or other - Dustin hadn't been paying attention - but the point was that _he_ had been the one holding the thing during the zord battle.

So it wasn't until Dustin had his lap full of Shane and Hunter (who were as equally surprised as he was at this predicament) when he realized that those ideas were _clearly_ not the case and he kind of wished he had let Blake keep a handle on the container as the navy ranger was outside fighting Marah and Kapri and a bunch of Kelzaks and _not_ inside a cockpit that was only built for one person.

Dustin’s chair, the little fighter that it was, attempted to hold their weight for about .34 seconds (what a trooper) before it totally gave up and shot out from under the yellow ranger, leading to an unpleasant moment that ended with the added weight of his friends slamming him into the ground.

"Cam," Dustin wheezed, begging the tech as the other two tried (and failed) to awkwardly get a hold on something to get up. "Teleport…please."

Luckily Cam was a super dude and teleported them back to Ninja Ops, where they were thrown to the ground once more. At least this time they got the benefit of having room to spread out. Shane and Hunter slid off him (which Dustin would be more confused about if he wasn’t so focused on getting reacquainted with his lungs) and they both quickly grab one of his arms, pulling him off of the ground.

Before the brunette got to thanking them, there was another flash and suddenly Blake and Tori (who hadn't been snatched up in Cam's first teleportation because Dustin was just _so_ much more important) appeared off to the side, in their snobby, completely-fine states.

_Jerks_.

Dustin powered down and, before he bothered to check to see if Shane had gotten any injuries, launched himself at the red ranger, hugging him tightly in apology/just-because-he-wanted when he felt his shirt (and arms and _face_ ) get wet with this wet, slick, yellowy stuff. He pulled back to get a better look at Shane and Hunter to see that they were covered (and by covered he meant _covered_ ) in…butter?

He sniffed his hand tentatively (earning a giggle from Tori who he ignored because he was still a little miffed at her) to discover that yes, it was butter, and then he gave Shane another look over to see that, despite being covered in the liquid goodness, he was fine. The mechanic argued with himself for about a second before he gave into temptation and flung himself at Shane again (he had already got some on him anyway) and gave him a more thorough hug.

Mission debrief went smoothly after that (after they all got a few jests in at Shane and Hunter's expense) and Tori apologized to Shane (and then surprisingly to Hunter) and it looked like everything was going to be fine and they could all call it a day.

Cam, with his mad computer skills, begged to differ.

"They rescheduled the movie viewing," Cam announced shortly after typing…whatever he usually typed after debriefing.

"Really?" Blake asked, peaking over his shoulder. "For when?"

At this, Cam wasn't the only one to give him a questioning look.

Black shrugged. "We still have four tickets."

"That's right," Hunter replied, snapping (or attempting to snap, but the butter prevented it). "Kapri never took ours."

"It's in thirty minutes," Cam finished, frowning at the oil that Shane and Hunter were dripping all over the floor.

Poor guy, he would probably have to clean that up later.

_Rewiring the zords? Programming high tech computer thingys? Easy cake._

But make Cam clean and he is _one_ sad panda.

The sound of Blake's voice tore Dustin away from his thoughts. "Seriously?"

Hunter frowned and flicked some butter onto the floor, causing Cam's frown to deepen.

"Yeah," he droned, running a hand through his hair. "Not happening, I'll never be clean in time."

Shane furrowed his brows and Dustin could see him visibly restrain himself from wringing out his shirt. "It'll probably take four showers to get this stuff off."

"There are showers a level below;" Cam informed, standing up from his computer. "We have some spare clothes you can use if you would like."

There was another level below this?

Dustin supposed that made sense, like, the zord bays had to be gigantic so, yeah; there could be more secret Ninja Ops rooms. He would have to get Cam to give him a tour one day.

"That," Hunter started, smiling at the tech, "is the best idea I've heard all day."

Shane echoed his sentiment with a thumbs up and Cam nodded curtly.

"Follow me," he murmured, motioning to them, and they quickly disappeared down the hallway.

Blake turned his attention back to his girlfriend. "Tori, what do you say?" he asked, pulling the tickets out of his jacket pocket.

Tori opened her mouth to reply but Sensei answered for her, "Tori will have to decline your invitation; a punishment is still in order."

Because that was what happened when you used secret ninja powers for being in two places at once.

"Of course Sensei," Blake agreed, smiling sympathetically at the aqua ranger before looking over at Dustin. "You still in?"

Was he still in? What kind of question was that?

"Yeah!" Dustin shouted, unable to contain his excitement. "Hey, we should-" and then he remembered he wasn't the one with the tickets and amended, "I mean, can we-"

The navy ranger caught on to where he was going with this. "Yeah, go ahead and get Cam."

"Awesome," Dustin murmured, mostly to himself, before turning to go and find Cam and the others. Hehad no idea where the stairs that led down (or, more down) were but there couldn't be _that_ many places for him to try.

Ninja Ops wasn't that big, was it?

"And maybe you should get some new clothes too," Blake added, leaning casually against a wall while Tori got out a mop and bucket and began to clean up the remaining oil trail.

Ah, that was fatherly love right there, making it so Cam wouldn't have to clean it up.

"Clean is for sissies!" he shouted over his shoulder, after giving an attempted wink (he still hadn't gotten any better) at Sensei.

"Don't tell Hunter that!" Blake called after him, which was completely unnecessary because, if there was anyone that Dustin wouldn't want to make mad, it was Hunter.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The two red rangers had attempted (after many sour looks from Cam) to contain their mess of oil to as small an area as possible, keeping their arms tight to their sides and, while they couldn't completely stop their dripping, Cam appreciated the sentiment. Of course he was barraged by more questions of _"What else does Ninja Ops have?"_ that he promptly ignored because he would introduce them to the excess areas when they needed them and not a moment before then.

Or until Dustin begged him for a tour, but after that the yellow ranger would explain it to them for him.

It was the principal of the thing that mattered.

Shane and Hunter paused midway through the locker room (the showers being located on its far side) in order to evaluate the area more thoroughly Cam assumed, which allowed him enough time to go locate two spare sets of clothes in their sizes along with the proper toiletries they would require. These things would be located (with the exception of the clothes which would be shelved separately) on some metal wracks adjacent and off to the side of the showers entrance.

_Towels_. He almost forgot he would have to get towels (they'd be by the clothes). To think, if he had left them unsupplied they would have to wander around themselves to find them and, knowing their luck (as displayed by today's actions), one of them would most likely slip and bang their head against something. Plus they would have to find new clothes, as the one's he had supplied would be soaking wet, unless some random alteration of their mental status occurred and they resolved to locate the towels naked.

The unanticipated shift in thought caught Cam completely by surprise and fortunately the two reds were too occupied staking claims on shower stalls to notice him abruptly jerk his head up in reaction, banging it against the shelf above him as he sought out shampoo. He was in conflict with himself whether to give into his inherent reaction (the physical demand) and rub the tender spot, or to comply with his second option (demanded by his brain) and smack his head against the shelf a couple more times in a frivolous attempt to make the mental images of naked, dripping wet Shane and Hunter go away.

His choice was taken from him by the sounds of footsteps behind him. The sight, while not beheld by the others, was certainly heard, so Cam gave into rubbing his head as they (he assumed but could confirm this later if he looked at his cameras...no, no cameras, he did not want to look at cameras, yes, confirmation was unimportant) peered curiously at his back.

"You okay Cam?" Shane called out behind him, concern evident in his voice.

_No, I am not fine…I'm just going crazy_.

"Yeah…" he croaked, disregarding his inner turmoil. "I uh…" ( _What was it that Shane hated?)_ If he could get some sympathy he would be fine _,_ "saw a spider," he finished, hoping he had gotten it right.

The footsteps drew closer (both sets) and he scrambled to explain the sudden disappearance of the spider. "It's…gone now."

Cam Watanabe, your acting is genius.

_Please, just be so sick of being dirty that you let this go._

He could practically hear Hunter's shrug. "Didn't pick you for a spider man."

Now would be an appropriate time to change the subject.

"Here's shampoo and soap," he dictated coldly, then had to fight a wince at his defensive tone. He thrust the indicated items at the two rangers and turned away again, this time searching for the other necessities. "I'll bring you your clothes and _towels_ ," he was proud of how he didn't choke on the word, "when I find them."

"…Okay Cam," Shane replied, his meager concern outweighed by exhaustion and a desperate need for cleanliness.

Cam kept his attention fixed on finding new clothes as their footsteps echoed away from him. Once he heard the sound of shower curtains sliding and water running he let out the breath of air he had been holding in and leaned his head against the cool metal of the racks. He wasn't an optimist, he was too realistic to ever be one, but he had been vainly hoping that his…quandary would diminish and eventually alleviate itself in time. Given the stress and ample distractions provided by his job this presumption was one with great merit.

However, being that he _was_ himself and the universe was still a sick and cruel creature, the…thoughts hadn't gone away so much as they had intensified and, to add to the world-inflicted torture, they had taken a definite _turn_ in nature. He should have seen it coming, but he had been so engaged in denial that this shift had caught him completely off guard and, in all honesty, he wasn't sure what to do about it.

Self loathing didn't seem to cut it anymore.

What had began as what he presumed was…physical comfort and establishing stronger emotional connections (friendship, teamwork, and the whole like) with the others, had somehow warped itself into a much darker, depraved sort of thing. He had thought it was harmless and par for the course, but his subconscious was…disagreeing with him. To add to this (and this was something he _was_ going to completely disregard for the moment because he could only focus on _so_ much at once, but then again, his mind was a twisted one) these…feelings, were only directed towards his…male friends.

Perhaps it was because Tori was clearly not interested and his mind was respecting that, but that didn't stop the fact that he kept seeing the others in a…sexual nature.

Odd thoughts that kept popping into his mind during completely harmless conversations, or while he was working on a project, or while he was meditating and would catch him off guard and render him effectively useless for the following ten minutes, in which he would gather himself and attempt to pile on as much detestation for himself as he could manage in order to get back to functioning properly. He had yet to act on any of these thoughts (in any way, shape, or form because the idea of it made him sick), but hatred was only going to work for so long. Eventually he was going to have to work this out himself without affecting his duties or damaging the rest of the team.

It was simple. He was a teenage male. Teenage males were hormonal. This was normal; there was no reason for him to freak out.

But was it just hormones?

Logically it made sense. It was a natural stage to go through in life; and he would just have to learn to live with it.

So how should he…um…deal with it?

Objectifying his friends, even in his mind, was so... _beyond_ wrong. But what if it wasn't just hormones and-

What if-

Time seemed to stop as he gathered two hoodies out of a drawer.

He felt numb…

_What if he liked guys?_

…And oddly ill.

_Was that bad?_

This was California. It was accepting here. His father would still love him if he-

Did he like guys?

The only girl they had around was Tori and she was taken but-

He had never taken interest in girls before, but then again, there had never been any around that weren't in training.

He was overreacting; he didn't feel any attraction because he hadn't spent enough time with the opposite sex to get comfortable with them, so he just hadn't considered it an…idea.

Maybe he should use that moderate amount of intelligence he had and get a clue.

He had sexual thoughts about guys.

He was… _is_ … _attracted_ to guys.

When a guy liked other guys, what did that make him?

_You know the answer to this one Cam._

He was gay.

He felt lightheaded.

…okay, still breathing.

_I'm okay._

…now what?

Towels, they needed towels.

_What about-?_

One discovery at a time.

He couldn't…he could only handle _so_ much.

And clothes.

They needed clothes or else-

_Damn it._

It was going to be a long day.

-:-:-:-:-:-

"Cam!"

Okay, Dustin would level with himself; wandering around aimlessly in hopes of catching up _hadn't_ been the greatest of plans. He could admit that now. Sure, the yellow ranger had been able to find the stairs, but they went down a lot further than he thought they would and now he wasn’t sure if he was anywhere near where the showers were or if he was somehow lost in the Zordbay.

"Cam!"

"Dustin?"

Sweet father of ice cream, it was Cam.

Dustin whipped his head to the right, grin spreading across his face as he saw Cam exit a room that was a couple doors down from where he was.

"Cam! Dude, you saved me!" he cheered, bounding over to the green-clothed tech and almost forgetting he was covered in oil but, remembering at the last second. He stopped his hug and settled on an enthusiastic wave. "I got _so_ lost."

"I can see that," Cam droned tersely, and it was so…different (like from back when they were just getting started as rangers and they might as well be bugs underneath his feet) that Dustin almost went to a fighting position because this was not the Cam he was talking to ten minutes ago.

What happened? Did Shane and Hunter start another fight or something?

His fault. If he had just kept a better handle on the bucket they wouldn't have gotten trapped and then they wouldn't have fought and _then_ Cam wouldn't have gone into silent-angry mode.

Dustin needed to fix this.

Oil or no, he was going to give Cam a hug and he was about to put this plan into action when the other interrupted him. "Did you need something?"

This time his tone (while not completely relaxed) was a lot friendlier, and most of the tension that Dustin hadn't realized had gathered in his shoulders disappeared.

The mechanic shifted his weight side-to-side awkwardly, jarred by the other's change of mood.

"Blake invited us to go see the movie; I came to get you." He looked down at himself with a frown. "And maybe see if I could borrow a shirt."

He looked at the tech expectantly, trying to judge his reaction. Was he going to say no? Was talking bad today? Did they have to start over? Did-

"Okay," Cam interrupted after taking a deep breath, "follow me."

He left before Dustin had a chance to reply and the yellow ranger dutifully trailed behind him and entered a…locker room.

Ninja locker room.

He followed Cam down a couple of isles of lockers and eventually they ended up by a set of drawers, from which Cam pulled out a plain black shirt.

_Eh, black._

But it was better than what he had.

Dustin grabbed the bottom of his shirt and peeled it over his head, the oil wanting to make it stay on. Well, he had fought an evil pig from space today and _won_ , so he wasn't going to let a little butter flavoring boss him around. With a grunt he pulled the shirt off, whipping it over his head and looking for a clean spot to wipe his face off. A cough brought his attention back to Cam, who was staring intently at the wall for some odd reason, and offering out a towel in one of his hands.

Towel, much better.

Dustin accepted the gift happily, and a gesture to a nearby laundry basket from Cam told Dustin where his soiled shirt needed to go.

_Ahh, it's everywhere_.

It must really suck to be Shane and Hunter right now, because he had only hugged Shane for like, five seconds, and he had a ridiculous amount of oil on him. Those guys must be _soaked._

He patted himself down and did a quick go over.

Face?

Torso?

Anything else?

Back, he still had some on his back from when Shane hugged him. He managed (with his skills) to get most of it off, but there was still that _one_ spot on he couldn't quite reach.

"Cam?" he asked, earning a hum in response but, when he looked over, his friend was still staring at the wall.

Must be _real_ interesting.

"Could you get my back?" he continued and then attempted to point to the spot and ridiculously failed because it was _that_ spot.

Cam hesitated briefly before grabbing the towel. "S-Sure," he mumbled, and Dustin turned around so he could get the allusive butter.

He almost didn't feel Cam's first attempt, his touch was so light, like he was barely trying to touch him.

Dude it was like, ninja feather training or something. Like, _"light as a feather"._

So cool. Cam would have to let him try one day. However, light wasn't going to cut it if the oil was like the stuff he had on his face.

"Harder Cam, this stuff doesn't come off easy."

The towel stilled, then swept across his back again with a force of about five feathers.

_Not cutting it Cam._

"Seriously Cam, you have to do it harder," he lectured, surprised that the other teen hadn't figured this out yet.

It was so light. What, did he not have the strength to-?

Was he sick?

Had he suddenly become ill?

He had been acting weird. Like, _really_ weird.

What if he had been sick the whole time and Dustin just hadn’t noticed because, when they where tracking down Shane and Hunter, he had been so worried. And Cam hadn't said anything because he was too busy finding them and holding _Dustin_ together, but it was finally getting _so_ bad that maybe right now he was about to pass out and here Dustin was demanding he do physical labor when he was really becoming sick, and he was the worst friend ever but right now he shouldn't be focusing on _that_ , he should be focusing on _Cam_ and maybe calling a doctor.

"Cam!" he exclaimed (because that was how all _that_ came out) and, instead of letting his concerns avalanche out of him, he whipped around quickly and felt for his friend’s head (for fever) and pulled the towel out of his hand because getting clean had suddenly become very unimportant.

Cam jerked backward oddly (passing out?) and tripped into the set of metal racks behind him and Dustin felt even worse than before because _see,_ Cam totally was just standing on the last of his strength and the yellow ranger should have figured that out sooner and now it looked like the metal rack/thing was angry. It tilted forward precariously but Dustin was quick and firmly took a hold of Cam's arm and yanked him towards his chest just as it came tumbling to the ground and, while _they_ might still have tumbled to the ground, at least Cam didn't have a rack of shampoo and soap on top of him.

For the second time that day Dustin landed on his back with another person on top of him, but this time he gently (as he could manage) rolled Cam off of him, scrambling to his knees quickly and resting his hand on Cam's forehead. He was so focused on Cam (who had a dazed look on his face from the lightheadedness) that he almost missed Shane and Hunter approaching, part oily, part sudsy (Hunter still had shampoo in his hair) but all wet and wrapped in towels not two feet away.

"What happened?" Shane asked, moving over to join him while Hunter inspected the attacking wall rack. "What's wrong?"

"Cam's sick," Dustin replied, taking the shirt Cam had given him and folding it into an odd pillow before shoving it under his head.

"I'm not sick," Cam coughed out awkwardly, voice cracking, and Hunter and Shane spared him a disbelieving glance before moving into action.

Hunter brought his morpher (he must have snagged it before exiting the shower) to his lips and uttered a few low sentences into it. Shane rubbed his hands on his towel real quick before placing his hand on Cam's forehead in place of Dustin’s, feeling for himself. Cam shivered at the action (was he cold?) and Dustin looked around furiously before he remembered where the towels were and quickly retrieved a few to keep the other teen warm.

"He was acting weird earlier. I should have seen it," Shane mumbled (mostly to himself) before helping Dustin with the towels. Cam tried to push their hands away and attempted to sit up, but they tag-teamed him and gently pushed him back to the ground.

With the entry of the red rangers, Dustin had forgotten about checking Cam's pulse and, seeing as Shane was busy with his head, the yellow ranger went ahead and did it the old fashioned way, laying his head on the others chest to listen to his heart. It was beating really quickly, but he thought _his_ heart beat really quickly so he laid a hand on his chest for comparison.

Yep, definitely faster than normal.

"I'm fine," Cam insisted, tone strained, and Dustin couldn't help but wonder who he was kidding. The tech was hot, and his face was all red, and his heart was beating like crazy. He had almost fainted before so it was clear he wasn't okay so why was he trying to fight it?

"Just let us help," Dustin begged quietly, reaching over to squeeze Cam's hand.

He helped them; it was time to return the favor.

"Tori and Blake are on their way," Hunter informed them while moving to get closer, but staying far enough away from Cam so he wouldn't feel crowded.

Crowded, right.

The last thing they needed was to freak him out.

"We'll uh-" Dustin began; unaware of the red's judging eyes, "we'll take him to his room, and you guys can finish your showers."

"We'll go back when they get here," Hunter confirmed, sharing a look with Shane.

Their team support needed them; everything else could wait.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Somewhere between handing out toiletries and cleaning Dustin's back, Cam had lost complete control of the situation.

Odd thing; he wasn’t sure how it happened.

He was in the middle of doing his best to clean Dustin while doing as little touching as possible, because he had had enough stress today (and after the strip show earlier he didn't want to do anything he might regret) and the only thing he wanted was a cup of hot chocolate and some sleep and he figured it was better to play it safe when the yellow ranger had very suddenly whipped around, causing the tech to stumble backwards so he could maintain his no-touching rule when he bumped into the rack behind him (that hadn't been as balanced as he would have liked it) and was almost trapped underneath it. Luckily, Dustin had reacted quicker than the tech had and saved him from his fate, successfully pulling him out of the way.

He had gone from completely no contact to complete full body contact in less than five seconds. The precious moments he wasted being shocked by this Dustin took advantage of and maneuvered him onto his back and leaned over him, staring him in the eyes.

_Innocent thoughts._

_Innocent thoughts._

_Innocent thoughts._

He chanted over and over, because this was _Dustin,_ and while he may be crafty, he was legitimately concerned about something. Before Cam could adjust to what had happened and get up, Hunter and Shane came into view dripping wet in nothing but towels and his thoughts from earlier come back full force. The only thing he wanted then more than a quick and sudden death was the power of invisibility.

It was settled, the world hated him.

This was all followed by a very pathetic attempt to assure them that he was okay, but before he could communicate this, Hunter was calling Blake and Tori and Shane and Dustin were touching him a lot more than he wanted them to and, by the time the others came and moved him to his room, he was actually beginning to feel sick.

In their defense, given the way he had been acting, sickness wasn't a bad conclusion to draw. He only wished Dustin had kept it to himself so he wouldn't have ended up with everyone focused on him.

Except for the reds, who, for the moment, were finishing their shower.

And wet.

And _naked_.

If he had not already been lying down, he would most definitely need to.

At least Dustin finally put on a shirt. With days like this, sometimes it was the little things that helped.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Shane glanced right and measured how much shampoo he had left, and figured he had a few more washes remaining before he would have to go to a new bottle. Hopefully that wouldn’t have to happen but, based on his current progress, it was definitely becoming a possibility. On the bright side, he knew where all the shampoo was now. The sight of discarded bottles chaotically strewn about the floor next to an overturned shelf unit had implanted itself in his mind, coming second only to the sight of Cam passed out on the floor.

Blake, Tori, and Dustin were with him now and, if Shane hadn’t been so rudely coated by General Pig Face, he would be with them. They were just as capable with the sick as he was, but it was _his_ team and he should be there, watching after Cam, not here, showering.

Incapacitated by butter.

Not one of his finest moments.

“He’ll be fine, stop worrying about it.”

Shane resisted the urge to glare in Hunter’s direction, keeping his gaze firmly fixed to the wall in front of him. He knew Cam was in good hands. That didn’t have to make him happy about not being there.

“I can hear you glaring.” Hunter’s joking voice echoed throughout the room.

Shane glared harder at his wall. “I’m not glaring,” he protested, almost growling, and rubbed his shoulder with increased ferocity. The sooner this was done the sooner he was out of here.

The other teen let out a soft chuckle. “Sure you’re not.”

Shane rubbed his shoulder harder. “The others’ got this.”

“Doesn’t make you any less frustrated,” Hunter insisted, causing Shane to pause and look right towards the sound of the voice. “I know I am,” the voice continued, almost to himself. Shane slowed down and lightened his touch, his shoulder starting to burn. “I think he might have overworked himself,” Hunter offered, louder.

If this was an attempt at a peace offering Hunter was doing a really suckish job of it.

“Should’ve kept a better eye on him,” Shane grumbled, the words escaping before he could think about them. He hissed softly and curled his fists, hoping Hunter wouldn’t comment on it.

The crimson ranger was not so obliging. “If Cam didn’t want you to notice, you wouldn’t notice.”

The argument was so accurate that Shane was struck still; to think, in such little time Hunter had come to understand them so well simply through observation.

For a reason he refused, to address that idea filled his stomach with dread because, if he was so right about _that_ , he could be right about-

“…yeah,” Shane mumbled in reply, mind completely abandoning their topic of conversation. He settled for concentrating on cleaning out the last of the shampoo from his hair, tilting his head forward to allow the spray to wash whatever trace amounts of filth it could get.

Hunter, assuming he had won that exchange, decided to move on.

“So,” he started, clearing his throat, “Dustin was freaked out.”

Shane grit his teeth in frustration. This new subject was not helping his state of mind.

“It’s Dustin,” he protested, controlling his desire to growl. “He’d do the same for you.”

And Tori, and him, and Blake, and Sensei, and a cat in a pet store.

Okay, maybe not the cat, but everyone else was definitely game. It was Dustin; he cared about his friends. He wasn’t secretly in love with Cam.

He would have told Shane.

And he wasn’t gay. _Cam_ wasn’t gay.

They were all just friends.

_Why were they still talking about this?_

The conversation that had started earlier in the popcorn container hadn’t so much as ended as taken multiple time outs to have _other_ conversations or awkward pauses. Shane was all for it coming to a close, but Hunter was always one to disagree.

“Would he?” Hunter baited. “As I recall _you_ were the one he hugged when we got back.”

In spite of being covered in butter.

“We’re best friends,” Shane insisted, reaching forward and turning up the heat. Maybe he would steal some of Hunter’s. He ran a lazy hand through his hair (no, he had not gotten all the oil) and with a sigh reached for the shampoo again, pouring a sizeable amount into his hand.

“Fair enough,” Hunter replied casually, though by his tone he was clearly unconvinced.

Shane, unable to restrain himself, growled, “We’re not-”

“I know,” Hunter interrupted (and Shane angrily noted that he sounded patient). “But you have to admit-”

“I don’t _have_ to admit anything. There’s nothing there, so lay off!” he shouted, whirling to his right (as though he or Hunter could look through walls) and braced himself for a smart response. When he was met with silence he shifted his weight and hesitantly asked, “What?”

Hunter’s reply was simply one word. “Defensive.”

What? No, no, he was not-

_Ugh!_

There was no dealing with this guy; he was just freaking delusional.

“I’m not-” he began; trying to figure out the right words to properly express this. “You know-” he tried again, but couldn’t think of the rest. He sighed, placing his spare hand against his head as he noticed that, in his anger, he had lost all the shampoo he had gathered, “Just forget it.”

_Please, please just drop it._

He reached for the bottle once more, one portion closer to being empty, and refilled his hand, this time being careful to make sure it all made its way to his hair.

Hunter (thankfully) gave him a few minutes of quiet while he re-lathered his hair and, just when he was getting comfortable, the blond broke it. “I’m trying to help you.”

_Help me, right._

Shane frowned and turned his back to the shower nozzle, massaging his hair to rinse out all the dirt and oil, tilting his head back so none got in his eyes.

He closed his eyes for good measure. “There’s nothing to help,” he replied, intending to stay calm, intending to leave it there, but all the stress from the day was starting to wear down on him and a request he hadn’t intended to make escaped from his mouth, “Just leave him alone.”

The silence that followed made him think that Hunter had elected to start ignoring him, but apparently he was just gathering his thoughts. “You’re not his keeper,” he murmured, his tone warning.

_I’m not his keeper._

Who had known him longer? Who had _always_ looked out for him? Who _always_ did his best to help him, to protect him? That’s right, Shane did, and while that didn’t make him Dustin’s “keeper”, it _did_ make him someone to be reckoned with.

If Hunter wanted to get his game face on, Shane could too.

“I mean it,” he repeated, copying Hunter’s air. “You’ll just confuse him.”

Dustin _wasn’t_ dumb, but this…this had the old Thunder rangers written all over it. The manipulating, the lying-

Shane wouldn’t let that happen again.

“Confuse him?” Hunter echoed, skepticism clear in his voice. “Do you even listen to yourself?”

Shane let that remark slide off him, refusing to rise to the bait.

“Right now he’s _happy_ ,” he said, emphasizing that last part, “and the only thing you’re going to do-”

“What?” Hunter interrupted, and Shane could tell by the way his voice reverberated off the walls that he was facing the metal separator between their stalls, “I’m going to brainwash him?”

Shane wretched his head out from under the water, turning to face the divider. “He’s going to believe you!”

His shout rang into a tense stillness and, in spite of the fact they were both now talking at a stationary object and couldn’t see each other, it somehow made _him_ feel more empowered in the conversation.

“…Believe what?” Hunter asked after a pause.

Shane took a step forward and leaned against the slick metal surface.

“Everything you told _me_ ,” he explained softly, because if he raised his voice he was going to lose it, “You’re going to tell _him_ ,” he continued slowly, just so he could be clear, “But unlike me, _he’s_ going to believe you-”

“So unlike you,” Hunter cut in, “he’s going to listen.”

Shane shook his head frantically before resting it in his hands, “He’s going to trust you and, at the end of it when it turns out you’re wrong, and you’re _going_ to be wrong, you’ll have just caused him a lot of unnecessary stress.” This wasn’t something he needed to think about. “Just leave him alone.”

_Just leave him alone so he could be happy._

Shane couldn’t admit it out loud, if this was all mildly freaking _him_ out, the odds that Dustin was going to take it well were doubtful.

White foam washed down the drain.

“How are you so sure of this?” Hunter asked; his back now to the separator by the sound of it. A small ‘thunk’ echoed as he rested his head against it.

“I’m just trying to protect my friend,” he replied, desperately trying to explain his concern. “I’m not going to let you hurt him just because you think-”

“What reality do you live in?” Hunter had turned to face the divider again, “Because right now I kind’ve want to visit it so I can get a glimpse of how backwards everything is,” he finished sarcastically and, if they weren’t both naked, Shane would’ve jumped the divider and punched him out of sheer frustration.

“Why won’t you just drop this?!” he asked instead, smacking the cool metal in aggravation.

“Why does this scare you so much?” Hunter shot back instead of answering. “Would it really be that bad?” Before Shane could think of a response, he continued. “Is your world so delicately balanced that, if just _one_ thing changes, your entire existence will crumble down around you? News flash Shane, change _isn’t_ bad.”

Shane swallowed before replying softly, “This isn’t about me.”

It _wasn’t._

“This is _entirely_ about you,” Hunter countered. “You’re afraid that if there’s the slightest chance that _you’re_ wrong, you won’t be able to handle it,” he finished quietly in a tone that clearly left no room for argument.

That might be the case with other people, but Shane wasn’t about to give up now.

Hunter wasn’t finished though. “Or maybe you’re just in denial.”

Shane glared at where he thought the blond’s head might be. “I told you-”

“You’ll have to excuse my poor listening skills; I picked them up from my fearless leader.”

Forget this. Forget this, forget it, just-

This wasn’t getting them anywhere.

Shane snapped his mouth shut, refusing to go any further. Hunter couldn’t advance the conversation if he refused to play.

Somehow the crimson ranger sensed that line and didn’t bother trying to goad him again, content with what he must have perceived as progress.

Progress, right.

And Shane would be stuck with this guy until they finished saving the world.

Fan-freaking- _tastic_.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The movies were completely forgotten and, as it was a Saturday, the entire team spent the night (thankfully not in his room or he would have lost it) to make sure Cam was okay.

The tech wasn't sure how they nominated who would do what, but at the end of the day it was Dustin who was cuddled ( _cuddled)_ into his side (for warmth, and in case he needed anything he insisted) and despite all the excess touching and how it was achieved, Cam couldn't find it in himself to be mad, at them or at himself, and with all the stress of the day piling up on him he just decided to go with it, looping an arm around the yellow ranger while staring into the ceiling, wondering what it would be like if this were every night, what it would be like to have someone _want_ to be by him _every_ night.

But that was just a delusional dream.

There was no way Dustin was gay.

Cam was getting ahead of himself, he had only discovered these feelings recently and who was he to judge? Besides, he really shouldn't be _thinking_ about other people when he's so messed up himself but-

_Realistic, lets be realistic._

Dustin was friendly but he wasn't...gay. Cam didn't allow himself to feel anything about that. It was all simply too much. He just _blocked_ it out and focused on the body breathing next to him, pretending for the night that everything was okay.

It wasn't, but…for this moment, he would be okay.

He would freak out tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	13. Schadenfreude

Cam wasn't a morning person.

It was, perhaps, his greatest weakness, but taking into consideration his numerous and much more suitable to world-saving strengths, he had managed to become okay with it.

This was why, for the first few minutes of his semi-consciousness, he simply appreciated the warmth and comfort of the extra body in his bed as opposed to processing _why_ it was there, leaving him quite unperturbed with his circumstances which, fully conscious, was something he would _not_ have done. There was the possibility that he _may_ have drifted into a light doze after that, and when he was once more dragged unwillingly from his peaceful slumber, Cam surmised that he should get a better understanding of his surrounds. He gently rolled his head to the side so he could figure out what god-forsaken hour it was.

Nine…was it an eight? No, it was a nine.

He squinted harder.

Nine…and that _could_ be a four and then a three.

He shut his eyes and plopped his head back against the pillow, exhausted by his excursion. So it could quite possibly be 9:43 (unless he imagined the extra bits on the four and it was 9:13), but either way he should probably get moving so he could get to his lab at a time that he could consider decent.

It wasn't until he was giving himself his mental motivation speech to make such a gargantuan effort that he felt something shift beside him, and he finally took note of the body that was draped half across him, the arm wrapped around his waist, the head pressed into his neck, and the legs that had determined _his_ legs were going to be their bestest-best friends and set forth to achieve this by initiating as much contact as possible.

Suffice to say he had very little trouble waking up once this understanding dawned on him.

He didn't immediately initiate crisis mode (though he _was_ panicking), so his mind entered a state of frenzy where he attempted to get a grasp on the events that led to his predicament but it still wasn't up to a normal state of function. Like a deer caught in the headlights he froze, as though stilling himself would make the other person (who was absolutely male, he realized in horror and then was distraught when he couldn't remember the reason _why_ he was in horror) believe he had suddenly vanished and therefore make themselves scarce. His efforts were met by the other’s head shifting, and he could feel the lightest touch of lips brush against his neck.

He stopped breathing, and thankfully the head kept moving, shifting back down so that it was buried against his chest.

_Breathe_ , he reminded himself, remembering how _that_ was a very important function, and he shakily released the air he had been holding in, desperate to be quiet.

What had happened last night?

He didn't want to think it but he knew he had to check.

Clothes?

...

Yes, they both had clothes on.

Good, that wasn't something Cam was prepared to freak out about yet.

His room was pitch black, the benefits to living in what was essentially an underground cave, so the only source of light he had was the glow emitting from his clock. There would be no visual confirmation then. He would have to outsource this to his other senses to deduce who was currently sharing his bed.

The hair of the mystery person tickled against his chin, feeling soft and…curly.

Dustin. It was Dustin.

_Why was Dustin here?_

He- _Dustin_ shifted again, pulling his arm back towards his body and bringing it to rest curled by his side, fisting in Cam's shirt.

And how had he become the yellow ranger's teddy bear?

Once he applied all his concentration to the matter, the events from last night flashed through his mind: the declaration of illness, the orders of bed rest, Dustin's determination to wait it out with him all came back, along with select memories that had led him to his initial state of agitation.

_That_ certain recollection made him all the more desperate to escape Dustin's hold, to avoid not only the embarrassment of their position (though the yellow ranger was likely to remain oblivious to this) but to avoid… _other_ problems that might arise.

Surprisingly, the choking sound that erupted from his body at that thought did not wake his bed fellow.

Cam couldn't decide if that was lucky or not so he opted to push aside his emotional distress and center his attention on Dustin's…non reaction. In retrospect, the yellow ranger must be as exhausted as he was. Waking him wasn't an option. At least, not yet. Cam would simply have to extract himself from the situation.

Which was easier said than done.

He had heard from Shane (a report he'd recieved after Dustin's run-in with Flora Bendicus's pollen) and had even witnessed himself that the yellow ranger had an affinity to swaddling himself in blankets for warmth when he was ill, and it appeared that he had taken it upon himself to reenact those conditions for Cam, leaving the tech hopelessly wrapped in excess material.

Someone, somewhere out there, was laughing at him.

He could feel it.

He _would_ have simply pulled himself to the head of the bed (effectively circumnavigating the wraps), but first he had to release his leg from Dustin's strangle hold. He would turn on his side and pull his leg back, and not only would that liberate his leg but it would also be the easiest and gentlest way to maneuver Dustin onto the bed without waking him.

Plan in mind, Cam carefully moved his arm (the one Dustin had snuggled under) to a place where it would have a firm hold on his back and began to turn onto his side, gently lowering the other ranger off of him.

Looking back on it, the mistake he had made here was assuming that Dustin would remain unresponsive (as he had to verbal stimuli), so Cam hadn't taken into account the idea that the curly-haired teen would react subconsciously, and instead of achieving _less_ contact with Dustin, Cam achieved _more_ , as the yellow ranger moved to fling his arm around the tech again and pulled forward, capturing _both_ of Cam's legs and pushing his face against his neck, and Cam hated how distinctly _aware_ he was of the lips that rested on his throat, partially blocked by the collar of his shirt.

The gulp that followed did little to help matters.

At the moment, Cam wasn't feeling much like the smart one.

_Warmth_ , he thought, gritting his teeth, _he has to be doing this for warmth._

_Don't think about it, don't think about it, just **don't** think about it. Figure out how to get out of this; freak out later. And for goodness sake don't think about **how nice it feels.**_

_Just **don't** go there._

Cam pulled back as far as he could from the other teen’s hold and soon became aware that he was at the edge of the bed and, were it not for the blanket tangle death trap he’d become victim to, he could have easily just wrenched Dustin off of him and made a mad dash for the door, denying any knowledge of this ordeal if ever asked about it.

It was the coward's way out, but it was becoming his only option.

"…Warm," Dustin murmured, and Cam sharply exhaled at the warm breath ghosting across his neck.

After this day he would sleep with a knife, and that way if any blankets even _thought_ about messing with him he would dice them into so many pieces the producers of Iron Chef would be amazed.

Dustin shifted again, leg pressing firmly in between Cam's and if he didn't stop soon there would be no room left to imagine the space between them and-

Cam jerked his legs backward, which was a stupid move because it pushed them over the edge of the bed and dragged the rest of him down with them, and the blankets being the demons from hell that they were dragged Dustin down on top of _him,_ and the situation he had been so set on sneaking out of with _whatever_ amount of ninja stealth he had kind of blew up in his face. Dustin might be a heavy sleeper, but there was no part of his ranger-conditioned body that wouldn't react to this. Were it not for his growing hysteria, Cam would have been impressed by the amount of thinking he had managed to get in between falling and hitting the floor.

" _Uh_ ," he exhaled, head rebounding off the very solid ground while he attempted to ignore the pressing dead weight that was slowly becoming un-dead weight on top of him.

Unlike Cam, Dustin immediately shot into action; but similarly to Cam, the blankets didn't like him either, and his attempt to jump up somehow jerked Cam's leg to the side, knocking the yellow ranger's legs out from under him and collapsing Dustin back onto the tech's chest. The yellow ranger would not be subdued so easily, and squirmed his way forward, shifting until he straddled the tech's waist, and was to busy feeling the sides of the other’s head to notice Cam's immediate stillness.

" _Cam_!" He whispered loudly; face hovering absurdly close to Cam's, as though he could see him in the dark.

"Cam!" he whispered again when he received no reaction, his head moving so that he was staring at the side of the tech's face (for whatever reason Cam wasn't sure; he was only grateful for the distance), and one of the hands that had been steadying the yellow rangers upper body migrated to the side of Cam's face, slowly slipping up to his forehead. This time, Cam repressed his trembling (no small feat) so as to avoid being labeled "sick" once more.

He couldn't take this much attention.

"I'm fine Dustin," he assured him, gently pulling the hand away. "We just got…tangled up."

Twisting movement from above preceded a couple delicate pulls on the blankets swathed around them, and Dustin let out a grunt in frustration.

"Yep, looks like it. Gimme a sec," he announced, and before Cam could ask him about his plan, Dustin had ducked down again, lying on him and tucking and pulling and working his blanket mastery charm to finagle them out. For peace of mind Cam closed his eyes and rested his head against the floor, blocking out Dustin's actions and focusing on the work he needed to complete today. Power disk modifications…he could scan the zords again (it was really unnecessary but it never hurt to be thorough)…meditation….meditation…lunch…after that maybe a little more meditation…and if that didn't work he could lock himself in the freezer for a few hours; maybe a little hypothermia would distract him.

After a few minutes of eternity, Dustin threw off the last blanket and cheerfully hopped off him, helping him sit up. "Sorry man, me and blankets…"

"It's okay Dustin," Cam soothed, reaching forward to pat what he thought was the others arm, and ending up brushing the base of his skull. He should've pulled back after that, immediately, because this right here was crossing a line, but he had come so far today (and he hadn't even been _awake_ that long) so he gave in to himself and tangled his fingers in the curly hair for just a moment before pulling back.

He pressed his arm against his chest to try and stop the shaking.

Bless the darkness for its camouflage.

"I…I was aiming for your arm," he explained truthfully, swallowing even though his throat was dry.

It was stupid. He was stupid. He was gay but that didn't give him the right to-

After an eternity of silence (but what was most likely a few seconds) Dustin emitted a laugh that was music to his ears.

"I know dude," he chirped, and he reached over and unlike Cam, actually managed to find his arm. "It's _so_ dark."

"Yeah," was all Cam could think of to whisper in reply. That must have been enough to satisfy Dustin because the next thing he knew he heard the yellow ranger on the move, padding across the room. A few seconds later the light was on, and Cam raised his hand to block out the invading brightness.

Once Cam's eyes adjusted, he looked up to find Dustin crouched in front of him.

"I feel like a vampire," the curly-haired teen exclaimed. "Like, _"nooo, light_ "" he hissed, throwing his arm across his face dramatically, and Cam couldn't help but catch some of his enthusiasm.

Mimicry complete, Dustin moved back beside Cam, peering at him intensely (this time with the benefit of lighting).

"You look a lot better than yesterday," he noted, nodding to himself.

"I feel a lot better than yesterday," Cam admitted, spirits raised slightly at his authenticity. Morning fiasco aside, he _did_ feel better.

Dustin nodded again.

"Good, I'll go tell the others," he declared, hopping to his feet and bounding over to the door. He paused though, hand on the knob and looked over his shoulder, opening his mouth in the beginnings of a question, but Cam beat him to it.

"I'll be fine alone," he reassured, and Dustin smiled and disappeared out the door, leaving Cam alone with his thoughts.

_I'll be fine_.

…after a shower.

After a nice, _cold_ shower.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It was dark.       

"Shane?" A whisper, loud but he barely caught it, and it was followed by an abrupt pat against the side of his face.

He was lying down, and he couldn’t couldn't see anything.

"Shane?" The voice whispered again, closer, and the red ranger fought through his murky memories to figure out who it was.

"Shane, wake up," the voice hissed, and he could feel the warm breath hit the side of his face.

_Wake up?_

"Shane," it urged, and a weight pressed against his shoulder, followed by a series of harder pats.

"Wake _up_."

…Dustin?

"I _will_ wet willy you man, I am not against it," Dustin hissed into his ear, and Shane finally cast off his remaining anchors to dream-world and remembered that he had stayed the night at Ninja Ops, and _that_ was why Dustin was waking him up.

"I'm awake," he whispered back, moving to defend his ear from incoming attacks, and Dustin let out an exhale of victory. "Why didn't you turn on the light?" he asked, starring at the unrelenting darkness.

"I didn't want to hurt your eyes," Dustin replied, and Shane could tell now that he had lain down next to him in order to talk. "I wanted to wake you first. Speaking of which…" And then he crawled away, probably in search of the others.

With a smirk Shane began to sit up, wanting to hear what happened next.

With Dustin sticking to Cam, the others had moved to sleep in the living room, none of them too terribly excited by the idea of sleeping on the hardwood floors of the main room. Tori, by majority vote (she was the one who voted against it) was given the couch while Shane, Hunter, and Blake duked it out for the chair. Blake had won ultimately, and the two red rangers were left to sleep on the floor.

Dustin, unaware of this, would probably find Hunter first.

"Tori?" he asked, initiating his previous wake up tactic, and Shane could hear him pat Hunter's face.

"Hunter…" the crimson ranger grumbled, but made no move to…move.

Shane knew _that_ wouldn't do, not for Dustin.

He expected a yelp from Hunter, as Dustin would have to carry out his wet willy threat on _him_ , but he was met with a peaceful silence.

"You have really soft hair," Dustin whispered, and while the red ranger couldn't _see_ him, he had absolutely no doubt that he was petting Hunter right now.

"Thanks," the blond grumbled, but didn't make any move to stop him.

When this continued for longer than Shane was comfortable with (Shane wasn’t sure how long; it probably wasn't very long but with the whole conversation they had yesterday restarting itself in his head it felt like forever), he set off to find the light switch. Dustin being…Dustin, was kind of helping Hunter's point, but Hunter _wasn't_ right, and Shane wasn't going to ask the yellow ranger to stop being himself, so he would just have to intervene for now so Hunter wouldn't continue thinking he knew things.

He would figure out a better long term plan later.

A wave of groans echoed from Tori and Blake once he flicked the lights on and, while everyone else was adjusting to the light (himself included but he pushed through it), he made a beeline for Dustin and gently pried him away from the crimson ranger.

That was much better.

"Cam's awake!" Dustin declared enthusiastically, not bothered by the forced change in positioning. "And he looks better!" he continued, smiling brightly at Shane.

"…awesome," Hunter grumbled, sitting up and running a hand through his hair nonchalantly. Dustin looked like he was about to go for another hair feel-up so Shane casually wrapped his arm around his shoulder, returning his focus to him.

Hunter was still too asleep to notice it…probably. Shane didn't actually care.

"We should make breakfast," the red ranger urged, and Dustin nodded excitedly, hopping up and dragging Shane behind him, pulling them out of the room.

-:-:-:-:-:-

With great coercion, (actually, Dustin hadn't really done anything except wake them up and drag Shane out of the room, he just really liked using that word) he managed to get the rest of the team to relocate to the kitchen for some much needed food-making time. It was decided they would cook pancakes (which were awesome in their fluffy goodness) but they quickly discovered that the whole _"too many chef's ruin food"-_ thing was most definitely true. Tori made him step out (he couldn't help it if he was messy) and Shane quickly volunteered to go with him to check up on Cam.

Dustin had to make Cam’s bed for him; it was his fault the blankets were helter-skelter anyway.

He had a momentary panic attack when they reached Cam's room to see that he was nowhere to be found, and he was about to start pelting through Ninja Ops on a Cam-hunt when Shane pointed out that the lights were on in the attached bathroom. On closer inspection they could hear the shower running.

He grinned sheepishly at Shane before knocking on the door lightly, calling out, "Cam?"

When met with Shane's questioning look he whispered, "I just want to see if he's okay."

Shane seemed okay with that, and they both waited patiently for any kind of reply so they could get to making the bed. When they received none, Dustin knocked on the door harder and called out a little louder.

"Cam?"

Dustin gave him ten seconds (because he wasn't wasting time if Cam was passed out) before he began to fumble with the doorknob. He shared a quick look with Shane before they barged into the small bathroom. Their plan, if they had had one, would have started with them finding Cam and figuring out what was wrong with him. At least, that was Dustin's plan. So he really didn't think too much about it when he yanked aside the shower curtain because he was pretty sure the only thing he would find was Cam passed out in the tub, and then they would be too distracted with _that_ to worry about anything else.

Actually, the only other reasons he _might_ have been able to come up with for Cam’s non-response were that the tech had been kidnapped, or he’d accidentally stepped into an alternate dimension, or his sickness had come back with so much vengeance that he was now mute and unable to answer them (though if that were the case, the least he could do was come to the door).

Dustin was really surprised when he pulled the curtain open and was suddenly face-to-face with a very conscious, very _naked_ Cam, who seemed just as surprised as he was about the whole affair.

They stood there like that for who knew how long (it was too long) before Shane reached around him and gently shut the curtain.

…so, Dustin had been wrong about the mute thing. Cam had gone deaf. That would explain it.

And now Dustin kind of wanted to hide.

The red and yellow rangers stood side-by-side awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do next. They had violated some major man-law right there, right? There had to be some kind of procedure you had to follow when stuff like that went down. And despite his desire to melt into the ground and never ever return, Dustin was still worried about Cam.

Shane, somehow sensing this, took over the situation. "Why didn't you answer us?"

There was a slight pause, almost like Cam couldn’t believe they were still there, and then a sigh. "I was meditating,"

Meditating in the shower?  It made sense; Cam _was_ a pretty awesome multi-tasker.

Maybe Dustin should give it a try some day.

"Now get out of my bathroom," Cam stated, seemingly calm, but Dustin could hear the warning in his voice.

Shane continued as though he hadn't heard him. "Why isn't the heat on?"

"What?" Dustin asked before he could stop himself, and shoved a hand over his mouth when he realized he said something, before sinking behind Shane in an attempt to hide himself from someone who wasn't even looking for him.

Shane answered his question anyway. "The heat's not on; if it was the mirror would be fogged up and it would be humid in here."

"Do you think he has a fever?" Dustin asked, forgetting his need to not exist because, if Cam needed help, he came first.

"I don't have a fever; this is just how I wake up," Cam insisted sounding…not sounding desperate, not like he needed them to believe a lie, and he _had_ looked fine earlier, but still-

Shane ruffled Dustin's hair to calm him, and shared the same wavelength. "Look Cam, if you don't want all of us around that's fine, but if you're still sick _someone_ has to stay and help you. You can even pick who."

There was a tense silence, that Cam eventually broke. "I'm _fine._ Now get out of my bathroom."

Shane glared at the curtain, clearly not agreeing with his diagnosis before shrugging it off and very quickly pulling Dustin out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

They stared at it together, Dustin in confusion and Shane in deep thought. Eventually the red ranger shook his head and motioned towards the pile of blankets on the floor. They set to their task in silence, and once they completed it the shower was still running.

Dustin mustered up enough courage to break their silence.

"Is he still sick?" he asked quietly, staring at the door, worried.

Shane reached over and patted his shoulder, concern evident on his features. "I don't know, but stay here and keep an eye on him okay?"

Dustin nodded and Shane left the room, probably to consult the others and, for the first time in a while, Dustin dreaded the idea of seeing Cam. After his stupid actions, Cam probably dreaded the idea of seeing him too.

He shook his head and plopped back down on Cam's bed to wait, pushing his feelings aside.

He had a job to do, and he was going to do it.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The situation in the kitchen had calmed down since his last visit; by the time Shane returned Tori was already pouring pancake batter onto the griddle while Hunter had started on the dishes. Blake leaned against the counter next to him, keeping a hold of a hand towel, and Shane could tell from the smug look on his face that he must have won whatever challenge he and his brother had set up to decide who would get stuck with dish duty. Shane also noted that the flour from Dustin's spontaneous bag explosion had been cleaned up as well; leaving only bare traces of the yellow ranger's personal touch on the counters.

All and all, not too shabby for a ten minute absence.

Aside from a glance from the shorter Thunder brother, Shane's entrance was ignored; the others too busy settling into a morning routine. It was a liberty Shane couldn't allow himself to take, not with the exchange he and Dustin just had with Cam looping through his mind.

It was…perplexing.

Dustin hadn't been the only one concerned when Cam hadn't responded, and although the tech seemed okay on inspection (the red ranger had mentally blocked out everything below Cam’s waist), he was still disturbed by Cam's temporary inability to hear. He trusted Cam and, if he said that he had been meditating, Shane was willing to believe him, but the freezing cold shower told him not to be so quick with his judgments. Unless, of course, he _was_ okay, but then Shane could only think of one reason anyone would _want_ to take a cold shower in the morning, and seeing as Dustin had spent the night with Cam, that wasn't the reason.

He didn't dare entertain otherwise; he wouldn't give Hunter the satisfaction, even in his mind.

Because somehow the crimson ranger would figure it out.

But that wasn't important at the moment. Right now Cam was either sick or fine, but that didn't change the fact that he clearly needed some alone time. Of course, Shane couldn't really give that to him (given the possibilities of recurring illness hanging over his head) so he would have to do the next best thing and leave a select few (somebody and Dustin, who would be intent on staying) to hold down the fort. The best choice would be Tori, seeing as she was one of Cam's favorites and she complemented Dustin well with her level headedness and immutable responsibility, but her family (like his) would notice her extended absence, so she (like he) was out as a choice.

That left either Blake or Hunter.

In his mind, Shane was rooting for Blake.

"How's Cam?"

The voice pulled him of his thoughts. When his eyes readjusted, he saw Tori smiling at him cheerfully over her shoulder, throwing watchful glances at her round batter charges.

Several answers went through his mind, but he decided on the most honest one. "I'm not sure."

_That_ got their attention. Hunter shut off the water and relieved Blake of his duty, keeping a hold on the towel after he dried his hands. He watched as Tori argued with herself, desperate to focus completely on the upcoming conversation but still feeling inclined to ensure the pancakes made it to being properly (and not overly) cooked. In the end the pancakes won.

When all three sets of eyes were on him (Tori's only briefly), he continued with a shrug. "He looked okay."

Hunter, as he always did, saw through this. "But he's not okay?"

Again, Shane answered as honestly as he could. "I'm not sure."

He wasn't. He wanted to trust Cam but he also wanted to make sure that the tech was okay.

"He needs…" he struggled for how to word this, "…alone time," he finished, satisfied with his choice.

By the looks of it, Hunter was not. "We can't leave him alone if he's sick," he lectured, crossing his arms firmly.

Shane fought to keep from getting angry.

"I know that," he snapped, then took a moment to breathe before continuing, more calmly, "That's why someone has to stay with him…and Dustin."

You could tell how well they knew each other when no one questioned or even commented on the yellow ranger's immediate nomination for the job. With what they had witnessed yesterday, they knew there would be no arguing with Dustin.

Tori sighed in frustration.

"I can't stay," she grumbled, removing the finished pancakes from the skillet and turning the stove off, turning to fully join the impromptu team meeting. Blake silently moved to her side, resting his back against the counter.

"I know," Shane agreed, equally frustrated, "I can't either." He eyed the two Thunder rangers, staring them down equally, "That leaves one of you two."

It was a real fight to mask his desire for it to be the navy ranger.

Hunter and Blake shared a quick glance before the blond gave him a nod. "I'll do it. Unlike _someone,"_ he aimed this at Blake, "I'm all caught up on my homework."

"Great," Shane declared, "then it's settled."

He wasn't happy with it, but he pushed that aside; this was bigger than him. Cam needed them gone, and Dustin…he meant well, but it would be best if Dustin had someone who could be relied on to keep their cool if things got stressful. His apprehensions aside, Hunter was probably the best choice for the job. He would be a good mediator, but Cam wouldn't let him push him around.

It was also an opportunity for team bonding, and as long as Hunter didn't reinvent the word, Shane was fine with that.

"When should we go?" Blake asked.

"Now would be best," Shane replied, receiving no argument from the rest of the team.

Tori gave one last look at the remaining batter but Hunter waved her off, touching her arm. "I got this, you guys go ahead."

Tori gave him a tight smile in return before exiting the room with Blake; Shane moved to follow them but stopped just as he reached the door frame and looked back over his shoulder.

"Call if anything happens okay?"

It wasn't a question; it was more of an order.

And a warning.

Hunter, aware of the hidden meaning tilted his head in acknowledgment. "Okay."

-:-:-:-:-:-

The small number of minutes that had passed by since Shane's exit seemed to have stretched out into years, causing Dustin to fidget nervously with the bottom hem of his shirt while he bounced on Cam's bed, where he had exiled himself since being left alone.

He hoped Cam didn't hate him.

He hadn't done it on purpose. Well, he _had_ done it on purpose, but not on peeping-Tom purpose, more for on friend-is-sick purpose, which was a really good purpose, but he wasn't sure how to put that into words.

Dustin frowned and buried his hands in his hair, combing through his curls restlessly.

He almost wished Cam _had_ been unconscious; that way they could all be focusing on that instead of…well. But he was fine, and thought they didn’t trust him because he said he was fine and insisted he was fine but if there was the slightest chance he _wasn’t_ fine Dustin wanted to help him because he was his friend, and Cam always helped him and let him hang out at Ninja Ops and made time for him and Dustin just didn’t want him hurt. It was like he sprained his ankle all over again, except this wasn't _entirely_ Dustin's fault.

He just wanted Cam to be happy, and who was happy when they were sick?

He would even leave if that was what Cam wanted.

His morpher chimed quietly next to his ear, and he gave one last look over to the door (yes, shower still running) before he answered it.

"Hello?" he whispered quietly, making just enough sound so that he was audible for the person on the other end. If anything happened in the bathroom he wanted to hear it.

No one could say he was bad at guard duty.

"Dustin, it’s Shane. We decided it would be best to give Cam some space." He opened his mouth to object but Shane knew him well enough and continued. "Hunter's going to stay behind with you."

_Oh_ , _okay._

It took Dustin a moment to realize Shane couldn't see him nodding before he brought the morpher back to his mouth to give a verbal confirmation. "Gotcha. I'll let you know if anything happens."

If he could see Shane he knew he'd have his leader face on. "Good."

_Good_.

The line cut out, leaving Dustin to pick up where he had left off. He shifted again, folding his legs up to his chest and resting his head sideways on his knees, still keeping his eyes on the clock while tapping his toes sporadically against the pale green comforter. At 10:18 the water shut off, and Dustin could hear Cam get out of the shower, completely normal. He shut his mind off from mental imaging (see, super respect to privacy) and continued listening with a half ear, just enough to know if anything went wrong.

He wasn't sure how he could make it up to Cam. Apologizing, that was a clear choice, but would that be enough?

He was blowing this up; it would be fine. The only other thing he could think of-

"Are you two still out there?"

Startled, Dustin pulled his eyes away from the clock and stared at the bathroom door, where Cam's voice had rang from. It had been loud, and at the bottom of the door Dustin could see the tech's shadow. He must be leaning on the other side.

"Just me," he replied, unsure if that was the right answer.

Did Cam want to be alone now? Was that why he hadn't just come out of the bathroom? Should Dustin have stayed silent so they could talk face-to-face? He couldn't do that; lying wasn't in him.

"Just you?" Cam echoed; the untrained ear would call his tone emotionless, but Dustin detected just the barest hints of surprise.

"And Hunter, but I think he's in the kitchen." He paused before adding, "The others left."

His words were met with silence and he was about to dash out the door and leave Cam to Hunter because obviously he was a lot more angry than Dustin had thought he was, but the silence gave way to the sounds of the door unlocking and Cam exited the bathroom, fully clothed in a long sleeve shirt and sweatpants, looking no worse for the wear.

They fell back into silence as they stared at each other, and Dustin wasn't sure how Cam felt about it but eventually the tension got too much for him and he exploded, "I'm sorry!" and then shoved a hand over his mouth when he realized how much _louder_ that came out than he had meant it to.

He took a breath and whispered quietly, "I'm sorry."

Some of the hardness went away from Cam's eyes, but he didn't make any move to get closer to the yellow ranger, choosing to stay across the room, leaning against a dresser.

"You were worried," he concluded logically, in the same voice he used to explain everything to Dustin.

The yellow ranger shook his head frantically, "I know, but-"

Cam cut him off, "I forgive you."

And just like that a huge weight lifted off Dustin's shoulders. Cam wouldn't lie to him; he wouldn't forgive him if he didn't mean it. By the way he carried himself Dustin could still tell he was a little wound up about it, but that was less at Dustin and more at…the uncomfortable-ness of it.

Well, Dustin knew how to fix that.

"Thanks," he exclaimed, smiling brightly. The tech returned his enthusiasm with a single nod and turned around, pulling open a random drawer in search of something. Maybe socks…Dustin always wore socks when he was at home; they kept his feet warm and toasty. He blinked and smacked the side of his head irritably, he was getting unfocused. Swallowing, he decided that if he was ever going to fully fix Cam he might as well ask him while his back was turned.

"Do you wanna see me naked?"

He had asked it in a normal voice, not too soft, not too loud, not too fast; there was no way Cam could mistake what he had said.

He had thought the reaction might be funny, (hoped, really, but you could never tell with Cam) and he was not disappointed. The tech seemed to stumble over thin air (an impressive feat for someone who wasn't even moving) and collapsed against the top of his dresser, knocking over a lamp that he quickly intercepted and righted. After all this, he took a moment to stand up properly before turning and asking for clarification.

It was Dustin's turn for uncontrollable fidgeting.

"Well," he started, looking to the side while brushing back his hair. "I saw you in the buff; not on purpose." He looked at Cam at that to make sure the other teen knew that, but of course he knew that, because he was _Cam_ and they had just spoken about it but he wanted it out there anyway. "But that's super invasive and I figured the best way to make it up to you is if we did the whole eye for an eye thing and then we'd be square and could put this thing behind us and laugh and then never speak of it again ever."

He was impressed with himself. Near the end he had even managed to maintain eye contact, and he stood at the finale and gestured broadly with his arms, trying to sell this, because this, in a way, would make them even.

Cam was of a differing opinion.

"No," he replied sternly, turning his back on Dustin once more to declare the conversation over, but Dustin wasn't one to give up so easily.

He rushed over to the tech's side. "But-"

Cam didn't even let him finish.

"No," he repeated again, much more forcefully, but refusing to meet Dustin's eyes.

See, see! He was still embarrassed! The only way that would stop was if they both were even and then everything could be groovy.

" _C-am,_ " he whined tugging on his sleeve, but the tech responded by ripping it away from him.

"Keep your clothes on," he lectured, finally pulling out a pair of socks (Dustin knew it) before slamming the drawer shut.

Dustin jumped at the sudden noise and frowned, deciding it was time to simply take the initiative.

"Just look," he pressed, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and lifting it up. He almost got to where he would pull the sleeves off when Cam intercepted him, pulling the shirt back down.

"No!" he shouted, and they were soon in the weirdest tug-a-war Dustin had ever been involved in. Cam's initial pull had caused him to stumble forward, and soon he was leaning with his back against the dresser and Cam was in front of him.

This shouldn't be this hard. Seriously, he understood Cam's modesty, but when did it apply to _him?_ Cam was a guy, he was a guy, they had the same parts, what was the problem? He just wanted to take part in the embarrassment, was that so much to ask?

He was mid-pull when he realized that pulling up was proving to be far harder than pulling down (and marveling at how sturdy this shirt was because he and Cam were two strong dudes and it hadn't so much as budged in the ripping and tearing department) when he got a wicked idea and suddenly let go. Cam, unprepared for the sudden change, lost his grip and fell to his knees, giving Dustin just enough time to whip his shirt off.

He moved to undo his pants but Cam wasn't giving in just yet and tried to cut him off, and he was ready to point out he was already halfway there when the door opened suddenly, freezing them in place.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Hunter had yet to decide if Shane's incessant interference with his interactions with Dustin were out of jealousy or protection (as he doubted it was out of bigotry), but he knew well enough not to call the other teen out on it, not yet. Time was on his side anyway. All he had to do was out-wait the red ranger and he would have his moment.

Now, for instance, was a good example of that. Shane had been against him staying; Hunter could read it in his body language, but had wisely said nothing. Now Hunter had all the time he needed, but had respectfully declined rubbing Shane's face in it.

At least, not verbally.

_Take that red guy._

He finished cooking the remaining pancake batter and set off to fetch Cam and Dustin so they could eat. He found the door to Cam's room with little difficulty and knocked on it a few times out of formality before pushing it open, already beginning his spiel. "I finished up breakfast, we have…"

His sentence trailed off once his brain started processing what his eyes were seeing and, aside from a sizable amount of surprise, he couldn't help but feel satisfied because clearly, A) Shane did not know his team as well as he thought he had, and B) Hunter _did._

Inside the room, Dustin was leaning against a dresser, shirt dangling from his far hand as he posed frozen, his other hand on his waistband. This alone Hunter would have been okay with because it was Dustin and if anyone embodied the meaning of the word “spontaneity” it would be him. Odd things happened around him; it was simply his state of being.

It was Cam's positioning, which was in no way something that was naturally Cam, that made Hunter pause. The tech was on his knees in front of the yellow ranger, assisting (or had been) in the removal of his remaining articles of clothing and what could have been a seemingly harmless situation turned into something completely different.

His initial reactions were followed with a slight feeling of disappointment because this meant that Dustin was _definitely_ off limits (he was not messing with Cam) and, if he had only come a few minutes later, he could have caught them in the middle of the act. He wasn't sure what he would have done then; probably left them to it, but if they _had_ been doing something Hunter would have had definite proof of his wisdom that he could use against Shane.

Dustin was unbothered by his intrusion, tossing his shirt away and batting aside Cam's hands so he could untie his sweats. Hunter could only gawk in surprise; he hadn't taken the brunette as an exhibitionist. Cam, on the other hand, had donned a look of complete horror after his initial shock wore off, face lighting up bright red. The yellow ranger's motions seemed to rocket him into action, and once he realized Dustin had kept going he stood quickly, taking ahold of the other’s hands in an attempt to be modest for the both of them.

While he had been arguing with himself over the outcomes of staying vs. leaving, Hunter decided to take pity on Cam and ducked back out of the room, giving them the alone time they so desperately wanted.

He was only a few steps down the hall when he heard Cam call out behind him, "This isn't what it looks like!"

Hunter smirked and shook his head. Cam was trying to salvage (his reputation, his modesty)… _something_ , but he should know Hunter wasn't one to judge. He didn't have to prove anything to him.

"What does it look like?" Dustin's voice, quieter, as it was directed to Cam, floated out the door, genuinely oblivious.

A few hurried footsteps followed and Cam burst into the hallway, tense but relieved by the crimson ranger's presence.

"It wasn't what it looked like," he repeated, nodding slowly.

To be honest, Hunter wasn't sure how to respond to that, but Dustin beat him to it.

"What did it look like?" he asked again, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

Cam shook his head sharply.

"Don't answer that," he warned, pointing to Hunter.

It was at this moment that Hunter began to believe he might have misinformed himself on what had actually happened.

"What?" Dustin replied, still shirtless. "I wanna know."

He looked back and forth between the other rangers innocently, unbothered by his state of undress.

"No," Cam lectured, keeping his eyes focused on Hunter, "you don't."

_Interesting_.

Hunter might have been wrong about their… _activities_ , but there was still a chance he was right about other things.

He tucked that nugget of information away for later reflection and settled in for getting to the bottom of this.

"What's going on?"

Dustin turned his attention to Hunter for the first time since his interruption.

"Cam doesn't want to see me naked," he complained, frowning at the tech who chose to focus on the wall immediately to his right in a sorry attempt to hide a blush.

Hunter smiled knowingly.

"And how is that not what it looks like?" he asked, snapping Dustin's eyes back on him and earning another blush from Cam.

"What does it look like?" Dustin replied, scrunching his nose in frustration.

He was either a really good actor, or had something else completely on his mind.

Was there an innocent reason to get naked?

…for Dustin, it just might be plausible.

"It's not like that!" Cam insisted, blush dying down somewhat. He sighed and rubbed the side of his head irritably.

Dustin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It _could_ be."

"Trust me," Cam informed, pushing his glasses up his nose, "it's not."

Hunter tried to rope them back on subject.

"Why do you want to…" he searched for the best way to put this, "be naked with him?"

The look Dustin gave him clearly indicated he thought Hunter was crazy, and that somehow _his_ comment had nothing to do with the current situation, and his following question supported this. "What are you talking about?"

Hunter suppressed the need to roll his eyes, "You just said he doesn't-"

" _See,"_ Dustin explained, pointing to his eye to emphasize his point. "I said _see._ "

Although he wanted to, Hunter did not point out that there was very little difference between their statements and decided it was time to move on.

"Why?" he asked, settling on a question that could in no way _not_ meet Dustin's standards.

Thankfully the yellow ranger accepted this.

"Because I saw him naked," he started, motioning to Cam (as though Hunter would think it was someone else), "on accident! Well, it was on purpose but we thought he was passed out but he wasn't passed out and I wanted to make it up to him and this seemed like a really good way." He finished his ramble and stared at Hunter expectantly, waiting for his approval.

…so that was how you got naked in a completely non-sexual way.

Interesting.

"…Okay," Hunter admitted after a few minutes of silence.

"Okay?" Cam echoed while Dustin simultaneously cheered. "He agrees with me, I win!"

Cam frowned and pulled the arm Dustin had pumped into the air back down, looking at the yellow ranger for the first time since Hunter had started talking to them. "No, no you don't win, and no he doesn't agree with you!"

Dustin opened his mouth to protest, grabbing onto the tech's arm. "But-"

Cam shook his head solemnly, pulling out his grasp. "No."

"Cam-" the other whined and it looked like this was going to drag on longer then it needed to so Hunter decided to put an end to it.

He cleared his throat loudly, drawing both of their attentions back to him before he swept his arm out dramatically and stated, "I declare you even."

It was Dustin who finally broke their silence. "What?"

"You…" Hunter said, pointing to him, "and you," he continued, pointing at Cam, "You're even," he explained as though it were the plainest thing in the world. That said, he brushed past them back into Cam's room and snatched Dustin's shirt off the floor, tossing it back to him when he exited the room.

"Now follow me," he continued, waving them along. "It's time for breakfast," he finished and turned, walking down the hallway.

He couldn't help but add over his shoulder when two sets of footsteps began to echo after him. "If you still feel like taking your clothes off after that, we'll talk."

He could feel Cam glaring at the back of his head.

"Stop encouraging him," he growled, but further threats were cut off as Dustin decided to wander into a different topic of conversation, and soon they were merrily discussing the benefits of pancakes vs. those of French toast.

It took until halfway through their meal for Cam to completely relax, and a little longer than that before he was comfortable making eye contact with Dustin. Luckily for both of them Dustin had pretty much taken Hunter's word as law and didn't bring the subject of clothing removal up again.

This Sunday was looking to be a lot brighter than he had originally thought.


	14. Will I?

X, it would seem, marked the spot.

Not the good spot, or any kind of spot Dustin had ever _thought_ he might have wanted to find, but his high school pre-cal class seemed to have a different opinion on that and demanded that he be able to locate and determine any x-related questions that they happened to throw his way. He had managed to figure it out in algebra where there was only one x, but now there were like, five, and _then_ there were x's raised to powers and natural logs and critical points and derivative rules and he was completely lost in a sea of gibberish and no matter where he swam, or what he did, he could not locate the mythical x they were asking for.

After breakfast Dustin had made a quick stop at his house to pick up his homework, because it didn't matter if he was one of the guys in charge of saving the world; he was still responsible for memorizing vocab lists, and he was currently working through his boatloads of paperwork on the floor in a far corner of the lab while Cam typed away at his computer. Hunter, the lucky devil, had no homework and had been roped into the easy job of cleaning duty. Dustin was tempted to ask if he was up for trading, but he didn't want to make it so obvious that he had no idea what he was doing.

He glared at the almost illegible scribbles in his spiral notebook; he had copied what the teacher had written exactly (when he’d been paying attention; it wasn’t his fault that math was really boring) but somehow he couldn't imitate her way of solving the questions.

It was infuriating.

Normally he would have asked Cam for help, but he couldn't do that today. He felt bad enough doing it when Cam was completely 100%, because he knew this stuff was so far beneath the other teen’s level of intelligence that it must be laughable, and while he might work through it patiently with him, Dustin knew that it must feel like he's teaching like…a preschooler or something. So no, he wouldn't bother Cam today; he had more important things to do. In fact he was so busy that he hadn't said much of anything as soon as they had gotten down to the lab, so focused was he on whatever project or doohickey he happened to be working on.

Well, that was just fine. Cam had enough super important things to do; he shouldn't have to waste his time teaching Dustin how to solve for x or whatever he was supposed to be doing.

It was official: he was a nincompoop. How he’d ever made it this far in school he would never know.

Frustrated, he started packing up, shuffling his papers into a semblance of order (a habit enforced on him by "the man") and shutting his book harshly, shoving it into his backpack. He began to gather his multitude of pencils; he had a nasty habit of using one for a while until misplacing it, then he would take out another one and misplace _that_ one, and this process would repeat itself at least four or five times before he was finished with his work which meant he had to find them all when it was over or be forced to buy dozens more pencils than he actually needed.

Now, where were they?

After checking all his usual places he found that he was still missing a pencil. He searched through all his pockets (back, front, hoodie, inside the shoe just in case) but came up with nothing, and quickly went to rifling through his backpack. He was just about to dump its entire contents on the ground when a pencil slid into his vision, held up by a tan hand.

He followed up the arm of the offered pencil and found a smirking Hunter crouching next to him, discarded broom leaning against a table behind him.

"It was rolling away," he explained as Dustin took it.

Of course it was. It was going for freedom, probably trying to make its way over to Cam so it could be used by someone with at least moderate intelligence.

His thoughts must have somehow read on his face because Hunter's smirk faded away into concern and he settled down next to Dustin, gently turning over the discarded text book and reading the title.

Instead of asking immediately what was wrong, Hunter went with a more delicate approach. "Pre-Cal bites doesn't it?"

If by ‘bites’ he meant it sucked out your soul and any hidden nuggets of self worth you might have left, then yes, Pre-Cal bites.

Dustin was pretty sure that answer wasn't going to help him any in the _"try and look smart"_ department, so he settled for replying, "Yeah," and offering no further explanation.

He took the rogue pencil out of Hunter's hand and slid it into his case along with his other prizes, taking great care to close it as delicately and as normally as possible. It was much harder to do now that he was thinking about it, but he managed to slide it into the front pocket of his backpack with only minor jerking. He threw another glare at his notes while he pawed for his stack of papers to put them away too, but, instead of landing on his homework, his hand met more floor. He tore his eyes away from his spiral notebook and forced himself to slowly glance over to where his notes _should_ be and was met by the sight of Hunter reading through his homework, eyebrows scrunched in deep thought.

By now he should have figured out that acting on his gut reactions wasn’t always the best move or that _maybe_ it wouldn't hurt to take a breath to calm down and _think_ before he did anything (even if Hunter was reading the evidence that was shrieking his lack of smarts) but the panic rising inside him overrode any thoughts he might have had and, before he knew it, he was wildly snatching for his math work.

Without missing a beat, Hunter pulled them out of his reach, standing quickly before going back to giving his work a go-over.

_No, no, no, no, no-_

Dustin didn't bother completely rising, instead throwing caution to the wind and tackling the other teen's legs, forcing Hunter to the ground. This time it was Dustin who reacted faster, crawling off of the tall blond and snatching back his paper work before leaping to his feet. Confetti rained down to the freshly swept floor as Dustin shredded the papers, completely destroying them. He wasn't going to turn them in anyway, he might as well take out some of his anger on them.

The sound of a throat clearing tore his focus away from his newly created decoration and, despite the fact he _really_ didn't want to, he slowly made himself look at its source. He had forgotten, in the rush of it all, that the main goal of all his hard work had been to not bother Cam. A goal, it seemed, he had fallen incredibly short of.

The tech had stopped his work and was staring at him, a searching expression on his face, and though Dustin couldn't see it he could _feel_ Hunter copying the same look.

"I'll clean it up," he offered before he could shift his weight or kick his feet or do whatever he usually did when embarrassed and grabbed the broom. He began sweeping frantically, then halted, took a breath, and began to sweep at a normal pace, keeping his eyes firmly focused on the ground, wishing for all the world it was dirt so he could melt into it and never come back up.

He was desperately hoping for Cam to simply shrug it off and go back to work or for Hunter to make a joke about his spazzyness and start dusting, but none of the sounds associated with those actions ever met his ears.

No one was going to play along with him this time.

It was Hunter who decided to break the silence. "I have no idea what just happened."

Dustin continued sweeping, desperately trying to think of an excuse that would explain his actions.

There was a small cough from Cam's direction before he replied, "Me either."

Dustin's mind was drawing a blank for answers, so he went to his next best option when it came to self preservation. It wasn't something he did too terribly often on purpose, because he usually just did it naturally, but the few times he _had,_ it resulted in success.

When all else failed, play dumb.

Game plan in mind, he finally took his eyes off the floor, blinking at them innocently before pointing to his broom in confusion. "I started sweeping."

They weren't prepared for the sudden change in tone and, by the looks of it, they weren't buying his story. They didn't even look like they were on the edge of buying his story, not even close to believing it, but he stayed strong, keeping his face perfectly confused. He even added in a quizzical head scratch to bring it home.

By the uneasy pause that followed, he could guess his efforts were ignored.

Cam rose from his chair and took a few steps towards him, eying the mess on the floor.

"Before that," he said tersely before shifting his attention to Hunter and asking, "The scuffling?"

Hunter shook his head, choosing to ask the real question, "What was wrong with your homework?"

Dustin turned his back to them, crouching down to sweep his pile of trash into the dustpan, hesitating a moment before cheerfully answering, "Nothing."

Nothing, it was _nothing_. His hours of work and frustration and hassle over trying to find out what a stupid x was, was…nothing.

Not even worth the paper it was written on.

Hunter frowned. "You just tore it up."

_Yes, I think we all know that now._

"No I-" Dustin frowned, struggling to find the right words to express himself as he picked up some stray pieces of paper.

He took a breath and tried again, "It's not…" but he couldn't think of the words to finish it, because he _had_ just freaked out and tore up his homework and was doing a terrible job of covering it up. He dumped the waste into a trashcan, watching it flutter to the bottom. He smiled brightly, then tempered it down some, making it more believable before turning.

"This," he explained, pointing inside the trashcan, "is confetti."

He didn't wait to see their reactions (because that was one clear way of showing you were lying) and instead settled for crossing the room to put the broom back in its closet. Hunter was done with sweeping anyway.

He heard the blond scoff behind him before murmuring, "It is _now_ ," followed by sounds of Hunter picking himself off the ground.

It was also followed by the sounds of something else being picked up, and it dawned on Dustin that while he may have destroyed his homework, he had not destroyed his notebook, which was also a shining example of his incompetence. A fresh wave of panic hit him and he pretty much hurled the broom into the closet before speeding back to his corner, only to be greeted by the sight of Hunter and Cam flipping through his notes. He’d never really understood when someone described their _"stomach dropping"_ in fear or anticipation or something, but right now he was starting to get an idea of what they meant because he was starting to lose all feeling to the stomach area…and maybe the breathing area.

Finally, after what seemed like eighty five years, which was probably only a few minutes, Cam looked up from his scribbles and frowned, turning his spiral towards him and pointing to it before saying, "This doesn't make any sense."

Dustin was dumbfounded.

_This doesn't make any sense?_

Cam didn't think it made any sense?

Like, he didn't think the material made any sense so Dustin wasn't going crazy or alone in his stupidity?

Dustin exhaled sharply, a huge weight lifted off of his shoulders and suddenly everything he had been holding in came pouring out of him.

"Really?" he asked, walking up beside Cam and looking at him earnestly. "Because _I_ thought it didn't make any sense but I just figured it was normal because it _normally_ doesn't make any sense no matter what I do and I even read the book." He squeezed the tech’s arm in emphasis. "I read the book Cam, and I still couldn't figure it out but I didn't want to bother you…" he trailed off and motioned to Hunter, "or you, because everyone else seems to get it and if _they_ can get it there's no excuse that _I_ can't get it," he continued, smacking the side of his head lightly, "But now you say it doesn't make any sense and that's really good because I have no idea what's going on."

He finished just as he ran out of breath, and he smiled at his friends (because the lying was done with and that was good because he hated it) but instead of returning his happiness he was met by another awkward pause where Cam and Hunter gave him confused looks.

Cam, being the professional one, simply accepted his explanation with a nod.

"I meant you're missing a step," he informed while gesturing to a specific spot in his notes, "So it doesn't make any sense."

…oh

_Stupid_

_Stupid_

**_Stupid_ **

Of course Cam wasn't confused; Cam was never confused by anything. To even think he _might_ have the slightest problem with something as easy as pre-cal was not only foolish but just plain…delusional!

What had he been thinking? He hadn't; that was why he shot off his mouth.

Dustin started to walk away, leaving before he could make a bigger fool of himself.

"…I'm gonna go over there now," he said, pointing to the door. "Please ignore me."

"Dustin-" Cam began to call after him, but Hunter interrupted him.

"Pre-Cal sucks," he declared, earning not one, but two baffled looks from his friends. Well, Cam's look was more miffed at being cut off.

He shrugged casually, ignoring the tech. "It _does._ It took me forever to figure it out."

"…It did?" Dustin asked hesitantly, not really wanting to stay at all but they were still talking to him so he might as well listen.

"Yeah," Hunter continued, maintaining strong eye contact. "What are you having a problem with?"

Before Dustin could say 'everything', the blond added, "Specifically."

And by specifically he meant _"at what exact moment did you give up and decide ripping up your homework was a better choice than asking for help?"_

Dustin paused and thought for a moment before answering, "Factoring."

"I'll help you," Hunter offered, pulling the notes out of Cam's hands (who did not appear at all happy with the exchange) and walking over to him, placing a hand on Dustin's shoulder.

"No," the brunette started, still embarrassed by his actions, "I can-"

It was Cam's turn to cut someone off, even if his choice of words was unexpected, "How fast can you put together a bike engine?"

The yellow ranger was shocked by the sudden change in subject but caught on long before Hunter did; the blond still throwing Cam confused looks that the tech was now ignoring by the time Hunter recovered.

Dustin scratched his head and thought about it, "Well, I haven't really timed it…"

Cam clarified, "Compared to Blake and Hunter."

"Oh," Dustin said. "Way faster."

The Thunder brothers may be the kings of riding, but when it came to maintenance Dustin was clearly the victor. He never really thought about what he did; he just did it. He could spend hours working on a bike and it would feel like only minutes had gone by.

Cam, as though following his train of thought, continued, "You'd also be faster than me."

Dustin shook his head because that was just crazy talk, "There's no way-"

"My point," Cam interrupted, "is that everyone has different strengths and weaknesses." He walked over and took Dustin's other side. "Math just isn't your strongest suit."

Dustin hadn't thought of it like that. Sure, he was barely passable at math but he was slammin' at plenty of other things.

"…It makes sense when you put it that way," he admitted, feeling relieved.

"Great," Cam replied, squeezing his other arm. Dustin finally took the time to peek a glance at him, and was met by a look of reassurance.

Cam squeezed his arm again before letting go and slowly retreating back to his desk, calling over his shoulder, "Now don't rip up any more paper in my lab."

Dustin saluted his back, "Got it."

-:-:-:-:-:-

He never would have thought it, but Hunter was actually an awesome teacher. He didn't mind going over things multiple times (because Dustin certainly needed it) and he explained everything _way_ better than any of his teachers ever could. It only took about an hour for Dustin to finally understand factoring and everything else in the assigned chapter, and after _that_ it only took a couple of hours to get through his homework. It was awesome and, not only did he not bother Cam; he hadn't bothered Hunter either.

Or, if he had, the guy did a really good job of hiding it. He probably wouldn't stick around for so long if he was about to go postal, teammate or no, so Dustin took it as a good sign.

They were alone for the moment as they worked through the final problems his teacher had assigned. Cam had left about half an hour ago to run some programs on the computers in the main room of Ninja Ops, leaving very strict instructions for them to not touch anything or he would _"impose the need to rip you limb from limb"._

He was very protective of his experiments.

"What are you doing Wednesday night?"

Dustin almost thought he had imagined it, but one look to Hunter confirmed that yes, the crimson ranger _had_ spoken and was waiting for an answer. It was his first make at small-talk since they had started working.

Wednesday night, Wednesday night, Wednesday night….what did he have then? He had work Wednesday afternoon, but as for Wednesday _night_ , he was free.

"Nothing," he answered, smiling brightly at Hunter before he went back to entering numbers into his calculator.

"I was thinking," Hunter started casually, leaning over so that his shoulder brushed against Dustin's, "Since we both pretty much missed out on Fists of Fire 2 in theaters, I could just rent it for us to watch at my apartment."

Dustin halted mid-calculation, which was really a bad idea because he would lose track of where he was and have to start all over again, but this was something worth thinking about. Hunter was inviting him over. Hunter, the crimson ranger, who was currently helping him learn math, was inviting him into his secret sanctum to spend even _more_ time with him, indicating that he was not at all against the idea of spending time with him.

… _awesome_

To be honest, Dustin had no idea why Hunter had invited him the first time; he figured it was his attempt at bonding or maybe he mystically knew that he loved that movie, so he had simply gone with the flow. Maybe Hunter just communicated through movies, like, that was how he made friends best. There was always something to keep the conversation going if they had one, but that wasn't even required when you watched a movie.

"Yeah man, that sounds awesome!" he exclaimed, problem forgotten as he bounced excitedly in place.

He was going to see Fists of Fire 2, with Hunter, who wanted to see Fists of Fire 2, with _him_.

"Great. Wednesday, 7 o'clock, my place," Hunter concluded, ticking off the info on his fingers, and Dustin gave him a thumbs up to show that he had received this information.

The patter of footsteps echoed outside the room right before Cam reentered his lab, looking to be in good spirits. He gave a searching look over all his experiments before sitting back down in his chair. Dustin was about to ask him how everything was when Cam beat him to the punch.

"I was thinking it's about time for lunch, and if you…" he paused, then turned his chair around slowly, pointing at Dustin. "What are you so happy about?"

Aside from learning math?

No, Cam knew there was a new development; he could, like, smell it in the air.

Before Hunter could explain, Dustin decided to do it for him, for he knew only he could give this event the amount of pizazz it deserved.

"Fists of Fire 2!" he proclaimed, bouncing to his feet and sending his pencil flying. "Hunter's house, Wednesday at 7! Be there or forever hang your head in shame!" He ended it with a dramatic arm sweep across his body, finishing at his head before bowing it gracefully.

How was that for razzmatazz?

His attempt at showmanship made him miss the confused look Cam threw Hunter, or Hunter's look of _"you're not invited",_ but that didn't matter, as he kept going, making sure the tech didn't have a chance to argue. He moved back to Cam's initial topic of conversation - the matter of lunch.

"I make a mean grilled sandwich!" he declared, popping his head back up and returning to a more relaxed body position. "I can even add bacon…and tomatoes, if that's your thing. Just point me to the kitchen."

Cam opened his mouth but the look on his face said he was still back on the Fist of Fire train of conversation, so Dustin just steamrolled on. "You know what, I'll find it myself," he finished, jogging out of the room with a wave, leaving two equally befuddled teammates in his wake.

-:-:-:-:-:-

There was a poignant pause after Dustin's rather vocal and melodramatic exit, leaving Cam and Hunter wordless, minds racing to recover after processing the new development. Eventually, tired of the silence, it was Cam who decided to address the situation first.

"I wasn't invited to that, was I?"

Hunter shook his head and confirmed the tech’s suspicions, running a hand through his blond tresses before dropping it forward to rest on his knee, exasperated. Cam frowned, and turned back to his computer, letting the matter slide. He wasn't about to bother confronting the crimson ranger about it; Dustin was friendly and therefore a good choice to do friend-like things with. It was only natural to prefer someone as intensely outgoing as the yellow ranger, and even more natural to avoid a sarcastic "grump" like himself.

Logically, Hunter's decision made sense.

This worked out, Cam was more than pleased to go on with his life, seemingly unaffected by it (so much so that eventually he _would_ be unaffected by it) until Hunter decided this conversation was _not_ over.

That was when everything went downhill.

"It was supposed to be a date," the blond moaned behind him, obviously aggravated by his miscommunication.

Clearly, Dustin had not been aware of this fact.

"This is the second time," he continued, and Cam had to focus real hard on his screen, squeezing his mouse in a death grip to ensure that none of the hundreds of pressing questions he had on the matter came tumbling out of him until he could determine which would be appropriate to ask first.

_Focus,_ he urged himself.

Step one, analyze the first message. The leading six words were inconsequential, of little importance, casual, everyday occurrences that invoked little to no panic generally. However, with the addition of the final word the entire meaning of its predecessors drastically altered, sending Cam into a state of semi-frenzy.

Date.

_Date_.

Not _the_ date, _a_ date.

" _It was supposed to be a date,"_ he had said, distressed by the fact that its current status clearly was _not_ a date.

But he would like it to be one.

He would like to go on a date with Dustin.

He would like to _date_ Dustin.

Somehow, with everything that Cam had endured over the past week, _that_ was what bothered him the most.

Something in the back of his mind was trying to tell him that this also meant he was not alone in his…sexuality and, not only that, Hunter was exhibiting a great deal of trust in him to share such information so easily, unless he was open about it, but Cam could barely spend the time to focus on that when he was beset by a new spectrum of feelings and, despite his frequent meditation and awareness of the undisputed fact that thinking before reacting was key in _all_ situations, he found himself across the room in a heartbeat, hand on Hunter's shoulder, jerking him to attention.

The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"You stay away from him," he growled, totally unsupported, and against all established facts (Hunter's assistance with Dustin; Dustin's obvious need for friendship), but somehow feeling totally right.

To say he didn't have a handle on his emotional status would be laughably understated.

The surprise should have stayed on Hunter's face longer, should have affected him to a greater degree, but the taller Thunder brother always had a knack for adaption, and he shifted accordingly, throwing Cam's hand off of him.

"I didn't take you for a bigot Cam," he snarled, glaring at the tech.

Cam remained outwardly unaffected, though the other teen’s total inaccuracy may have temporarily halted his breathing. He took a step back. While he may feel unreasonably angry he needed to communicate his concerns more effectively, or else further misrepresent himself. He took a deep breath to steady himself and started again, softer, though none of the tension had left his body.

"Dustin," he began through clenched teeth; before shaking his head and forcing himself to relax, "is my friend. And I'm not going to let you hurt him."

Hunter cut him off before he could further explain himself.

"First Shane and now you? What is with you guys? You say you trust me but the first whiff that I _might_ be interested in Dustin and you think I'm going to do things of unspeakable evil to him!" he exclaimed, climbing to his feet, "Tell me, is Tori going to be the same way or is it just you two?"

The excess was nothing; Cam couldn't allow himself to be thrown at the mention of his teammates, though the fact that Hunter had already had this conversation with Shane and was still pursuing the yellow ranger did worry him slightly. Made him wonder what they talked about _exactly_.

Cam would have to chat about it with Shane later. Right now he needed to put up a better, more sensible defense.

"You saw the way he reacted over his homework right; you were there?" Rhetorical, they both obviously knew how Dustin had felt but he needed to remind Hunter.

It would also aggravate him, which was an added bonus.

" _That's_ how much our opinions matter to him. How important he holds us in his mind."

Hunter remained unchanged by explanation, not bothering to bat an eyelash.

Cam continued, shifting slightly with a fact to support his argument. "You know he's not gay right?"

Clearly he didn't, or they wouldn't be here, having this conversation, but a little belittling with undisputed evidence might be just what the crimson ranger needed to shake him out of his funk.

He was unimpressed, glaring Cam down. "You and Shane seem to think so."

"If you do this," he began, walking slowly towards the crimson ranger, "you _will_ hurt him. You will press him into something he won't really want to do, but because _your_ opinion matters so much to him he will go along with it."

Instead of any look of epiphany in agreement at his sound logic, Hunter laughed in his face, moving towards him with a bold swagger until they were face to face.

"I think you don't have enough faith in him," he murmured. "I think," he started again, coy smile spreading across his face, "that while his strengths might not be here" - he motioned to the side of his head - "he's plenty smart enough to figure out _here_ ," he finished, patting the area of his chest over his heart. "To use your words."

It was logical, sort of, at least a solid half-attempt that made sense, but the feelings that had settled over Cam like a dust cloud were not pushed aside; rather they intensified. He had used his knowledge; those cards were already lying across the table for Hunter to clearly see. Now all he had left was the fickle beast of emotions. And Cam was more than ready to ride it.

"Stay. Away. From him," he warned softly and whatever foundations of friendliness and hospitality they had built up in their afternoon together came tumbling down, leaving nothing but crumbled remains in a desolate wasteland. To his credit, Hunter hid the majority of his surprise at Cam’s new strategy, and opened his mouth to reply before shutting it suddenly, a searching look assuming his eye.

It dawned on Cam that one of them was finally _thinking_ before they moved into action.

"Are you gay Cam?" Hunter asked, leaning back while keeping up his examination, locked on Cam's eyes.

"That's none of your business," he attempted to say calmly, but Hunter didn’t look like he was buying it.

The shift was instantaneous; one second the blond matched him for emotion, overflowing, angry and the next, just, stillness. There wasn’t…there was no cruelty or mocking in Hunter’s expression, as Cam would have thought there would be, just quiet contemplation. It was odd. Having Hunter so riled one second and the next- _this_ , like it was nothing.

Nonthreatening; not victorious, just existing.

Cam hated it, because the crimson ranger didn’t need to ask for confirmation, he already knew, and instead of lauding it above the tech’s head he was just - why wasn’t Hunter taunting him? He finally had a tool, a weakness he could exploit and Cam had earned it, with unreasonable accusations and fierce overprotection that was never warranted.

Hunter was undoubtedly in the right; Cam wouldn’t blame him. Were their positions reversed, were Cam on the other side…he didn’t know what he would see. What Hunter was looking at. Maybe he just saw some lost and broken _thing_ , the almighty Cam just as susceptible to the average person’s emotional turmoil.

If it was pity, if that was what Hunter had exchanged his anger for…it almost wasn’t worth it. The pity was far less desirable. Not from Hunter.

Or perhaps that wasn’t fair. Because from someone who had experienced so much of the worst of life-

Actually getting pity from them was an accomplishment.

Did that make it better, or worse?

“Cam,” the blond broke him out of his reverie, still studying, but there was an almost softness to his tone, as bizarre as that was.

No, no it wasn’t pity; at least that wasn’t the dominating feeling represented. It could be lurking in the background but for the most part, if Cam was reading this right (and he could be horribly, horribly wrong because the past ten minutes had unveiled just how warped his perception could be), Hunter was portraying a look of solidarity. Of ‘ _been there, done that’_ understanding.

So he wouldn’t be upset.

“Cam,” he said again, when he received no reply. He reached a hand out, resting it on the tech’s shoulder. “It’s okay.”

The flinch was immediate, a primal, instinctive reaction and Cam wanted to laugh with a bitterness he couldn’t fully describe because it wasn’t, it _wasn’t_ okay. He hated this, these _feelings_ he had no control over. He hadn’t needed them, he didn’t _want_ them, they hadn’t been necessary before now so _why_ -

“It’s okay,” Hunter echoed, trying to ground Cam, maybe; it was strange. Heat rose to Cam’s cheeks, shame, embarrassment, he didn’t- and his throat was suddenly tight. _What was wrong with him_? Had he completely lost it?

He would think Hunter was the worst person to break down in front of, but considering how fiercely the crimson ranger guarded himself; he knew the value of silence. And as much as he would have the others think to the contrary, as much as he may think it himself, Hunter was not inherently cruel.

He would not take advantage of these few broken moments.

“ _Cam_.”

He snapped his eyes up from the floor - apparently they had taken a sudden fascination in their footwear - and Hunter stared at him, like he was trying to say something with his eyes but Cam had no idea, he couldn’t tell what-

This was absurdly difficult.

“Just…” Hunter sighed and his hand shifted against the tech’s hip, “Just breathe, okay? You need to keep breathing.”

Which sounded like a solid plan, if ever there was one. Probably the best thing Hunter had said all day, and Cam wanted desperately to praise him for it, but then the blond went back to his silent communications that Cam couldn’t translate and he was drowning again, stupidly. Or drowning in his stupidity, his ineptness.

Hunter tilted his head forward, resting it against Cam’s forehead, no care for personal boundaries, or maybe this sort of thing helped when you were falling apart at the seems…what would Cam know, and waited, for something.

“Keep breathing,” Cam said, it occurring to him he should say something; it was probably time for that.

Hunter leaned his head forward, closing the distance – _why -_ and-

A warning blared in his mind; there was something, a sound, and he shoved the crimson ranger away, ducking into his chair just as the door to his lab burst open. A mildly dirty Dustin entered the room, pausing to laugh at Hunter lying down on the job before he demanded their grilled cheese preferences. He grabbed Cam and dragged him from the room, insisting a little kitchen time would be good for his rapidly fading, never-existing illness.

Unfortunately Hunter joined them only five minutes later, and Cam was forced to deal with the growing feeling of unease that followed him. The knowing eyes and the weakness, the confusion, the uneasiness.  

Cam was unsure whether he had just gained an ally or an enemy, so he did a mental system recovery and operated under his previous settings, open for adaption, but keeping one primary directive in mind, no questions, no qualifiers.

For now Hunter was his friend, but if he strayed towards Dustin…

Enemy.

No question.


	15. No Good Deed

Hunter had been surprised by how quickly spending the afternoon with Cam and Dustin had made him all domesticated; a feeling of content-ness and home rekindling those old aches lurking inside him. He had almost felt guilty halfway through because he was here and Blake was at home alone, and _maybe_ Hunter shouldn’t have chosen spiting Shane over Blake’s happiness. Yes, both Bradley brothers could do the alone thing fine but- well, this wasn’t something Hunter should be indulging in. Not in Blake’s stead. The navy ranger could have done his homework at the Ops; Dustin was. It probably wasn’t his best idea, but it had been so tempting. Shane’s bitterness alone had been worth it, his face -just, _priceles_ s.

Something about Shane made him more impulsive, less interested in long term effects. If the red ranger ever figured that out (if he ever managed to extract his head from his ass) he could use that against Hunter. And even though the blond knew better, he would fall for it, because Shane’s grumpy face was one of the few things that really highlighted his day. Which was…sort of depressing and _kind_ of confusing if he paused to think about it, but he wasn’t going to do that anyway so he took what he could get.

His glass may be full of toxic sewage waste water, but at least it wasn’t empty damnit.

What Hunter had not expected, after he battered the guilt into a quiet corner of his mind, was for there to be any sort of hang ups. Lazy Saturday right? He had even started cleaning without complaining (okay, with minimal complaining, but he couldn’t let Cam think he was completely in charge, even if he was; it was the principal that mattered), because he was a team player. Dusting? Done, because he was a _team player_. Sweeping? Flawlessly executed. No funny business going on here. Nope. Check it out Shane; Hunter had been alone with Dustin the Impressionable and Cam the Moderately-Physically-Impaired and neither one of them had been corrupted by his presence. No one had been hit on, no one had been scarred for life, everything was just peachy.

Except it wasn’t. For the record it wasn’t actually Hunter’s fault; he had a witness to prove it. And it wasn’t like Cam hadn’t been interested in Dustin’s notes either, so their curiosity towards the yellow ranger’s problems was totally within the realm of concerned teammateship. Hunter didn’t look too closely at this interest. It was a good thing; no need to worry about it.  

So…bonding. Weird experience, but it happened. Were Hunter more compassionate, it would have been painful to see how torn up Dustin was over his educational hurdles. To have someone so aware of what their problem was and trying to fix it with no results, just because they didn’t know how to make it better.

Hunter knew a thing or two about broken people (being that he was one; first-hand experience, he would never claim any different). He and Blake had figured out long ago, when this “team” thing had become permanent, that there was a certain set of issues that would probably need to be addressed, simply because of who they were. The power struggle between he and Shane, Cam not being a ranger (or, to clarify, his bitterness of the fact), Tori being the only one on the team with _common sense_ (excusing romantic slip ups), Cam and Hunter’s lack of social skills, and of course, Dustin’s lack of smarts.

And impulse control. And like, brain-to-mouth filtering.

His Dustin-ness, for lack of better word.

It was going to come back and bite them in the ass at some point; Hunter was just glad it happened off of the battle field, over something that was fixable.  

And this…this shit was primo fixable. Cam had started the moral boost and Hunter had taken it home with some one-on-one tutoring, never fearing a lack of patience because this was important. They were a team and if they wanted to finish off that bastard who killed his parents (and he really, _really_ wanted to do that, thanks) he could put aside a couple of hours to explain factoring.

The voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Blake attempted to point out that if he really felt that way he would stop messing with Shane, but it was Blake, and therefore had no credibility (so that wasn’t true; Hunter loved his brother a ridiculous amount, this was just the only way he could express his affections and it never need be discussed out loud, really).

It wasn’t bad. In fact it even helped advance plan _‘Double-date-is-really-great’_ (Hunter had come up with the name for the specific purpose of making Blake’s eye do that special twitching thing; which was a success, by the way) in that he got to establish a better rapport with Dustin. Like the Special Olympics, everybody won (including Cam, because his floors, _spotless_ ). With everything so peachy-keen Hunter went ahead and shot for gold, waiting for Cam to leave the room while he asked Dustin on Date Attempt Number 2. Which, not that he was a bragger, was enthusiastically received. Because Hunter was a catch, and a gentleman, and seeing movies while being graced with his presence was a freaking _treat_ , alright? Suck it Shane; this guy was a winner.

Of course, with thoughts like that it was only natural for the issue of “Dustin-ness” to rear its ugly head again and Hunter forgot that, in addition to his other flaws, Dustin was incredibly _terrible_ at picking up social cues. Not that Hunter (or Cam, we need not forget Cam) was very good at them themselves; they just knew when to keep their mouths shut. Dustin had the misfortune of not even _seeing_ them, and jumping from point A to point G with such conviction that no one had the heart to tell him about all the other missing letters.

Which was how Cam got invited to their date. And then subsequently discovered their date. And then somehow or other Hunter was back to getting lectured about his _evil influence_ and, damnit, that would _not_ flow. He’d heard enough of that from Shane.

And the hits just kept coming, because right in front of him; Cam, that guy who reveled in logic and reason, who understood – he didn’t always like it but he _understood_ – lost himself, surrendered to his emotions right in front of Hunter. Hunter hadn’t seen it coming, but just like that it clicked. The sudden illness, the dazed look in the tech’s eyes, the aversion and the embarrassment and the blatant confusion.

Hunter was not usually adept in social situations, but he knew a thing or two about broken people. Lost people.

And they were hopeless, weren’t they? Both pining after Dustin (alright, he wasn’t pining, but Cam definitely was), who was a _maybe_ at best (and Hunter knew that some of Cam’s argument had merit, that Dustin could be pushed into it), and all three of them were dysfunctional compared to modern society. Cam was drowning and Hunter knew that feeling. He knew the uncertainty that came with it (and on the inside he was panicking because he wasn’t good at these things, _he wasn’t_ , he just said the first shit that came to mind; whatever Shane would have said if he wasn’t a homophobic jerk), and tried to reach out.

It wouldn’t be perfect (because he knew he couldn’t commit completely, not at the beginning, and Cam couldn’t either), but he could try to redeem himself for his past mistakes; he could try to help Cam. Hunter wasn’t good at a lot of things, but he knew a lost soul when he saw one, and maybe they could be maladjusted and incomplete together. Cam could take the lead; Hunter didn’t care, but at the very least he could _try_.

There was an opportunity for this to go very, _very_ badly. It was a risk, but-

Even if it went south, Hunter would deserve it (trusting evil space ninjas, and all that), and his debt would be repaid. Not the best outcome, not compared to the alternative (Which was what? Sunshine and rainbows? Permanent Shane angry face? A companion – _wow_ , how pathetically hopeful was he), but it could be worse.

He would be fine just so long as he didn’t think about it too hard.

 _Yes,_ the Blake-voice said, _that is the mindset of a true victor._

**_Shut up Blake; go back to pining over your stupid girlfriend_.**

The voice laughed at him again, and Hunter shook his head, keeping disengaged and _not_ worrying about any growing signs of insanity.

He was fine. They would be fine. This would work.

And nobody would get hurt.                               

Win-win.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Dustin had thought by now he had figured out the formula for how things worked. And by formula, he meant timing, and by worked, he meant Lothor's attacks. And by figured he meant…figured.

Yeah, that one was pretty much right.

It was to Dustin's understanding that, taking into account everything that had happened, whenever really big stuff went down, it went down on a Thursday. Cam and his experiment in the park that went terribly, the whole thing on Toxipod's island, Snipster's attack…when they caught Leonard. See, all the important stuff, all on Thursdays.

Okay, so there were still all the times the Thunder Ranger's had attacked them _before_ Thursday, and even their run in with the evil pig guy had happened on a _Saturday_ , but Dustin had been _really_ hoping that whatever power that was watching over them would just agree with him for once and let the next monster attack happen on Thursday so he could get in his Hunter-Cam movie bonding time with yummy popcorn and happiness abounds.

He should have known better.

Instead of happy movie time they got a monster attack, and it was a doozy. Mad…tropolis, that was his name, attacked and zapped away all their powers, and then Cam zapped their powers back (but only temporarily), and then the temporary wore off and they were completely _without_ powers facing up against a giant angry monster that was getting ready to crush them, and then Sensei froze time, and Cam was gone, and Dustin was worried because Cam was gone and while he was awesome he was still alone somewhere without any backup and he probably couldn't zap himself any power because he had already wasted it on _them_ and then Dustin felt a little selfish because if he had _known_ they were going to fail horribly he would have just stepped out of the battle and given his energy to Cam.

It wasn't like he had done anything useful with it anyway; all he did was attack Shane and the Thunder Rangers, and then he got knocked around a bit. Complete waste of zappy power.

Sensei had managed to teleport them back to Ninja Ops while time was frozen and Dustin felt like he’d tried to do a 20 mile run at break-neck speed and all he could do was pass out against Shane while Cam did all the hard stuff and feel terrible about it. If it was him out there Cam would have been backing him up (somehow, he would find a way) but all Dustin could do was sit.

It was stupid.

And then all the stupid went away when Cam came back, with the power, which turned out to be another morpher, and it was _his_ , and if he had had more energy Dustin would have happily jumped up and down and cheered and danced and given everyone (including Sensei) a big fat "I told you so." Even if he hadn't out loud, he had always called it in his mind. Cam was finally a ranger, which he totally deserved, far more than anybody else on the team. Dustin couldn't really describe how he felt about it, but if he had to, he would say he was proud. Proud that his friend, someone who had been working so hard, finally got what he had been dreaming of, and he was also proud that he got to share a uniform with someone who was so amazing at everything he did.

Maybe if he got lucky, a little of Cam's genius would rub off on him.

It already had, a little bit; after all _he_ was the one who came up with the idea for how they should get their powers back, and it even _worked_ , which was definitely an added bonus.

Oh, and Lothor's Cam's uncle…or Sensei's brother, except he's _not_ anymore because he's evil and that was the rules, but Cam's still a little weirded out by it so Dustin added that to the list of things he needed to take care of later and prepared to celebrate. Unfortunately, after Cam's big reveal, they didn't get the chance to give him the congratulations he had earned and most certainly deserved because Lothor was still a big fat jerkface and decided that he wanted to celebrate in _his_ way, and that meant they had to deal with multiple monsters popping up which they needed to take care of before they went on a rampage.

One monster, okay, Dustin would have been cool with that, but like, six? It was jank. Cam was finally on the team and Dustin wouldn't even get to work with him because they had to split up?

It was _so_ messed up.

Everything had been going fine, but then the monsters un-blew up and they got called back to Ninja Ops and Dustin found out that Cam was totally _not_ fine. Some overgrown bug had stung him and made him all splotchy and there was hair growing out of his hands and if it wasn't for Shane's steady hand against his shoulder he would have been all over him, mother henning it up like there was no tomorrow (which, for all he knew, there wouldn't be).

Before Dustin could sufficiently express his concern, a monster got big and they had to go fight it; Tori reminding him that he couldn't do anything for Cam (which just made him feel _tons_ better), but the guy fended for himself, undoing whatever voodoo had been done and helping them save the day, like it was supposed to be.

Dustin hugged him, first chance he got, happy that everything turned out okay.

And that had been how he’d spent his Wednesday.

They were too distracted to reschedule happy-movie time.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Obviously stepping up to ranger status required a fair bit of schedule adjustment on Cam's part. On top of his expected day-to-day duties of zord maintenance, coding, experiments, and communications work, he was required to not only monitor, but also participate in all ranger training as well as any team meetings that were called, whether they be for practical purposes or social calls (though he had strongly argued against his required presence at the latter, seeing as he already had, as the phrase put it, "his hands full").

To add to this, his father had persisted in his private training, allowing him to "catch up" (something he greatly objected to, seeing as he had proven that he was at the very least on the same level as the other rangers).

Early on, in a moment of weakness, Cam had allowed himself brief comfort in the delusion that he was capable of handling all the new duties handed to him in stride. Surely with his intelligence, strength, and total devotion to Ninja Ops and the team, he would be able to juggle it all with ease, or, if the worse came to it, with only moderate difficulty.

After a week and a half of this adjusted schedule, he came to the conclusion that he had been sadly mistaken.

Despite his previous assumptions, he was not Superman. In comparison to his teammates (he didn't call it ego when it was stating the truth), maybe. In comparison to what he needed to fulfill his new job essentials, he fell incredibly short.

It all came down to two, frustrating and unalterable facts.

They were that, one, no matter _how_ much he willed it, desired it, or focused on it, eventually his body needed simple things like _rest_ and _sustenance_ and _bathing_ which had seemed all so insignificant and unaffecting in his pre-ranger days but were now biting out huge chunks of his time that he _could_ be utilizing in a much more efficient manner. Like sleeping? When had _that_ come to steal so much time away? Who in their right mind had eight hours to waste doing nothing?

So far he had managed to cut his down to five, sometimes four on a good day, with coffee and caffeine pills substituting what he missed out on, and he _would_ have put effort into researching a way to whittle off even more hours if he had had any time to spare on it. As useful as it would be in the long run, it affected the short run too drastically.

This tied into fact number two; there simply was not enough _time._

Cam couldn't fix that. Hours slipped by without him noticing, even working full speed, and he had to shove his duties as technical support, along with all his training into one day and it was slowly taking a greater and greater toll on him.

Surely his father had noticed it by now, but had yet to comment on it.

And all _that_ was discounting any of his social commitments. The biggest of these being what he had deemed as the “Hunter-problem”.

It was basic (it _had_ to be basic or Cam wouldn’t be able to cope with it; had to remove most of the humanity from it just to make it bearable).    

Hunter wanted companionship (initially; it didn’t matter what he wanted after). Hunter had attempted to fill this desire for company with Dustin, something he had yet to properly communicate to the yellow ranger. Cam, for reasons he could not properly describe, _didn’t_ want to give the blond the opportunity to date Dustin. He had conveyed this to Hunter who in turn, through a series of quick deductions, reasoned that Cam, in turn, was himself an option to fill his social deficiency.

There was more to it than that. So much _painfully_ more, but he couldn’t…it was too much. All of it. All of _this_.

Cam realized that this was blatantly a coward’s alternative, but with everything that was being demanded of him, all his skill and time and energy that was required for the team; he could keep this one selfish thing for himself. Yes, he distantly recognized he could be throwing something away here, something valuable, but then the thought of _Dustin_ hit him, strong and fierce and just as indiscernible as Hunter and his…things, and surrendering to the irrational felt like the only valid option. If Hunter got bored with him he could turn his attention back towards the mechanic, and the steady mantra of _no-no-no-no- **no-no**_ crashed over Cam every time he dared to think it, twisted his gut, because he couldn’t- so therefore the only logical choice to prevent it, to preserve the yellow ranger as he was, was to simply neglect informing Hunter of his waning interest. Because there was no interest. And he honestly didn’t have the energy to bother delving into _that_ bucket of worms.

It would not be a profitable choice of action, Cam was sure. Short-term, at best. Lacking the ability to go any longer but-

It felt like the right choice (even when it didn’t, but he couldn’t- he couldn’t deal with _that_ ). Cam would happily sacrifice his privacy so long as he was guaranteed Dustin’s peace of mind.

So the plan was set then.

Unfortunately, with all of his new duties, Cam hadn’t even had the opportunity to _interact_ with Hunter. And he needed to; he needed Hunter not focused on Dustin and he needed to upgrade the zords and he needed to train and he needed to-

So much. There was so much and so little to do it with.

That was why, late one night, when he finally slumped over his desk, overcome with exhaustion; Cam decided something about this matter needed to be done.

The only question left was what?

He couldn't _make_ more time; he didn't have time to even _begin_ to contemplate the specifics (as entertaining and beneficial as it would be) necessary to pull off such a feat and eventually (despite his the ranger energy coursing through him) his caffeine abuse was going to start having adverse effects on his body, so he needed something to help he could produce relatively quickly. It was times like these where he sincerely wished that just _one_ of his friends were a little smarter. As usual, this thought was followed by an immense surge of guilt, but the idea always remained. If just one of them knew…just _something_ , how to manage the zords, or input data, or _know_ how to use (and be trusted enough to use) his computers in order to input the data, he would be able to have enough time to himself to really _think_.

If he was really lucky, he might be able to breathe too.

 _If only,_ he thought, flicking an odd clump of lint as he attempted to motivate himself to begin the journey to his bed, _If only there were two of me. Then other me could do all this junk while I focused on the team._

He didn't really think about it much, not the technical implications at least. He simply amused himself with the idea of clone him doing all the dirty work. Maybe clone him could be the one to…deal with Hunter. And then clone-him could sweep (if Dustin ever didn't) and dust (because he wasn't going to) and clone-him could even do the meditations his father forced on him to ensure he _"sustains a calm and steady disposition"_ because who really needed that anyway?

And then _he_ could train and laugh and smile and joke with the others and maybe try and find a way to con Dustin into sleeping in his bed again.

The last part took a few seconds longer to process due to his sleep deprivation, so for sanity's sake (to repeat, he _was not_ Superman) Cam concentrated his attention on his first train of thought.

If only he had a clone of himself.

The cloning process itself was highly controversial, and to be honest, not in an area that Cam was strongly suited for. He was more of a chips and circuits kind of guy, which lead him to the idea of…robot?

No, not a robot; he loathed even the idea of focusing on a robot. He was far too preoccupied with managing the zords and power disks to be able to throw anything together that would be durable enough for what he needed and besides, a robot would only be able to focus on one task at a time, at least physically. Its compiler on the other hand, if hooked into the Ops computers, would be able to run a plethora of programs simultaneously. To be able to move and manage what he needed he would require constant teleportation (which would assuredly wear out the machine) unless-

Unless it wasn't chained to one specific holding unit. Instead of a "body", the program could generate a temporary (perhaps even semi-permanent) physical representation of itself in order to carry out any tactile interaction required of it, then, when finished, it could simply withdraw itself back into the mainframe and continue its business there.

The possibilities were endless. If Cam actually managed to pull off this…hologram, it would have to be; it would be able to materialize within the full reach of his network, which aside from Ninja Ops included his vast system of cameras and monitors.

What had started as a wishful hope was beginning to fabricate itself into a very profitable and life saving scheme. He could create a holographic representation of himself to take care of Ninja Ops’ technical requirements; he had already unknowingly started to create an A.I. to assist in supervising his day-to-day routine, he could simply build on that.

With a second wind secured, Cam shrugged off the remnants of his exhaustion, popping a few more caffeine pills before setting down to work. If he finished this, successfully, he could finally get down to the wonderful, wonderful business of sleep.

He was proud that he was able to dare to dream of such a thing.


	16. All I Care About Is Love

When Shane went to have his weekly status report with Cam (there was no specific time set; it usually occurred whenever the green ranger could fit time in for him on Saturday) he found the team’s newest member passed out on top of his keyboard, hands still posed for work as he caught up on what was obviously much needed sleep.

Frowning, Shane caught sight of a caffeine pill bottle, lid discarded and contents mostly gone. With a sigh he closed it, setting the bottle off to the side while taking a look around the lab. It had grown much messier since his last visit, confirming his fears that Cam (as much as his friend denied it) simply had too much work to do and while he wasn't fond of actual cleaning, he _was_ fond of being _clean_ and the clear disregard for his usual preferences meant that things in the world of Cam were getting pretty chaotic.

Finishing his examination Shane went on to think of how to tackle A) Cam right at this moment, and B) Cam’s apparent long term habit of exhausting himself.

Both were important, but Shane settled his attention on the more short-term of the two.

By the looks of it (and based on the fact he hadn't woken up as soon as Shane entered the room), Cam needed this sleep desperately, so waking him was not an option. The red ranger wasn't sure how long Cam had been passed out over the desk but he _did_ know the other teen hadn't chosen his position consciously; being that it looked extremely uncomfortable. Well, that made Shane's choice very easy. He needed to move Cam. Preferably to a bed.

Shane would work on the second problem after that.

After he picked up his friend, the trip was an uneventful one, even with the added worry of not jostling Cam. It was the actual getting him _on_ the bed part that seemed to be the complication. Shane got as far as the laying him down when he discovered that Cam had a vice-like grip on his shirt and even as his legs hit the bed he refused to pull his head away from Shane's chest, instead clinging tighter and giving off a small humming sound that said he strongly opposed the detachment. Shane's attempts to pry away the green ranger's fingers were only met with more of the protesting sounds that he had been steadily ignoring, until Cam decided to kick it up a notch and mumbled, " _No_ …"

It was soft, but distinctly audible and sounded…It sounded sad.

It wasn't angry or… stubborn or lazily seeking out warmth-

It was simply _sad_ , and something about Cam’s tone made Shane freeze on the inside, forcing him to stop and really take a look at Cam.

The tech was distressed, brows furrowed, hands clenched and he clung on desperately, murmuring quietly, begging, "… _please_."

Shane wasn't sure why it surprised him; why Cam's subconscious desire for comfort or support seemed so bizarre. Sure, it was Cam, but he was still human, and like everyone else he needed a little contact from time to time. Seeing as Cam was a private person and his father was currently a guinea pig, he had been starved of that.

Cam would deny it if he was awake, assuming if he ever knew or heard about it, but in that moment Shane knew he couldn't leave his friend alone.

Not when he had to spend the majority of his life that way.

Cam was an elusive study, obsessed with control, and _clearly_ the only reason Shane even knew that things were _this_ bad was because Cam had gone and worked himself into the ground. Hopefully that wouldn't happen too many more times in the future, not after he talked with him about it when he was back to his regular normal self. That took care of one problem, but it still left him with the issue that the team support needed…some support.

Shane had thought they were doing better. They had regular meeting about the team, both in person and via morpher. Cam had let him begin tutoring him in the ways of skateboarding; they were both protective over Dustin, and that was only the stuff _he_ had involving Cam. He knew Tori spoke to him at least once a day and Dustin was practically at Ninja Ops every night (when work allowed it), so what were they missing?

What were they not giving Cam that he needed so desperately?

Maybe it was the whole ‘living alone’ thing that bothered him. Sure there was Sensei, but he mostly stayed in the main room of the Ops, choosing to stay in his habitat. Unless Cam visited that room often (something Shane sincerely doubted because he seemed to be living in his lab), he was pretty much on his own.

That _could_ be it, or maybe he just needed more hugs or something.

Course changed, he pulled Cam back towards his side, instantly earning a contented sigh of relief from the tech before he continued his adventures in dreamland, much happier than before. Shane smiled fondly at the sight (this was as unguarded as he had ever seen Cam) and before he realized it he was running his fingers through the tech’s dark hair, as he had seen Cam do with Dustin many a time and Shane gently pulled his hands away before the other teen could get too accustomed to it.

He liked Cam, but he was _not_ going to pet his hair for the next four or so hours.

The shoes (both his and Cam's) and the single pair of glasses came off with relative ease, flung carelessly onto the floor in an unorganized fashion (excluding the glasses; they were placed on the bedside table) before Shane arranged Cam and himself underneath the blankets. Cam settled down beside him, seemingly content to just have another person _there_ , and gave another satisfied sigh before completely collapsing into sleep.

For the most part Shane took it as a sign that he shouldn't have gotten up as early as he had. Sure, wanting to get to Cam while he had time had its merits and he wouldn't take arriving early _today_ away because it helped out his friend, but as he shut off the lights and was enveloped in immense darkness, he decided that the world was trying to give him an excuse to get a few more hours of sleep.

And _that_ was something he was more than willing to do.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Hunter hadn't seen Cam in over a week.

Wait, no, that wasn't true. He'd seen him, at trainings and at debriefings and he’d even managed to finagle him into a thirty second phone call until Cam realized it was purely for social reasons and hung up claiming he was “ _Too busy to deal with his stupidity"._

Harsh as the words and his tone was meant to be, Hunter couldn't help but feel all warm and snuggly on the inside because Cam's undertone had totally been _'Thank goodness I'm busy because if I wasn't then I would have to force myself to not flirt with you for a while you hunky-hunk-hunkerson'._

Okay, so Hunter might have paraphrased him (and channeled Dustin a little) but Cam was definitely feeling something along those lines. Ever since the almost-kiss (how long ago was that? Two weeks?) Cam had been acting especially snippy towards him, which anyone who wasn't Hunter would take as a sign that he didn't like him, but the crimson ranger knew better. The extra-mean was a cover up. Cam wasn't entirely sure how to approach the blond anymore, he was confused (even though Hunter knew he was gay and _Cam_ knew he was gay _and_ he knew _Hunter was_ bi and into him) and until he could decide how to approach the situation he was going to take the safest route and just push the blond away.

But this was a good thing. _This_ meant he was at least considering it. If he wasn't interested in Hunter at _all_ he would have already shot him down, seeing as Cam was brutally honest and couldn’t care less about the feelings of people who weren't Dustin.

Instead he was all stricken over it, which was, in Hunter’s opinion, not too shabby for about five minutes worth of work.

His end game was to grow on Cam slowly over time, kind of like a rock in his shoe or something. Sure it would hurt when you step on it the first few times, but after a while you don't even notice it.

Were Blake to voice his opinion on any of Hunter’s actions he would say that by occupying whatever spare time Hunter had with thoughts of Cam was his way of denying the status of their world. Which _was_ as remarkably stupid as it had sounded, especially coming from his younger brother, and Hunter was more than willing to tell Mr. Smartypants so. Hunter knew _exactly_ what was happening. They were ninjas, they were protecting the planet from the guy that killed their parents and in order to do this more effectively they had teamed up with a rag-tag group of shinobi novices that were slowly becoming less irritating to deal with. And, while handling _that_ particular feat, they had to claw tooth and nail whatever money they could scrounge together to keep living in that pathetic excuse for an apartment they shared.

See, see that? _That_ was totally accepting the status of one’s life. He was not in denial, he didn’t think anything was prettier or uglier than it actually was, it just, _was_. That was it. No more, no less.

And this thing with Cam was _helping_ the tech work through the _omg-homosexuality-heartattack_ phase of his life, which was a _nice_ thing to do, and not at all an attempt to deflect his attentions from things like his own feelings on their new friends or being brainwashed a couple times or that lingering doubt that maybe Hunter wasn’t as good as he so proudly boasted he was.

Because it _wasn’t_.

Cam was gay; Hunter was bi, and there was a gleaming opportunity to interact in an especially sexy way that benefited both of them. And Cam would stop freaking out. That one first though; he wasn’t that big a dick.

And as an added bonus - when it was all said and done Shane would probably have this wonderful look of horrified confusion on his face before his brain exploded from that narrow-minded state of being he seemed so happy to sport, and then maybe Hunter could take over the team while he was too busy being a sobbing mess in the corner.

You know, usual stuff.

He knew Blake would scoff at his ideas, and that girlfriend of his would probably be throwing some glares around and Dustin would be using his puppy eyes, but it was _all for the best_. Shane would come out of it stronger, with new and improved character. Hunter would have someone to make out with, and maybe Cam wouldn’t be so snappy all the damn time.

Win-win-win. What could possibly go wrong?

Grinning underneath his helmet, Hunter pulled off the track after he finished his lap, moving to where he’d stowed his gear so he could get a drink of water. It was a good day to ride and Hunter had gotten up early so he could get some time in. Not usually a pleasure he would allow himself; he should be trying to fit in more hours at Storm Chargers, but if he wanted to keep his edge on the competition he really did need to practice, as much as he insisted (to Blake) that he didn’t.

Normally he would have waited for later and used the morning to sneak in some extra labor as a stocker at the local grocery store, but he had plans today. He had given Cam his space and plenty of time to work himself crazy, and now it was time to pay him a visit, make sure he hadn’t completely run into the ground and maybe bring him a late lunch or something. Like a peace offering. He didn't want to force anything but… he liked Cam.

(And he really _did_ like Cam; he was witty and sarcastic and didn’t expect things like normality and other stuff Hunter couldn’t give him).

Clearly it was going to be a long road for Cam to deal with his…emotional…sexual issues, but Hunter was willing to wait for him, willing to be there to help him along.

And not because he was avoiding things but simply because it would have been _nice_ if someone had done that for him at some point in his life. Unusual for Hunter to be so generous, but he figured if he wasn’t at least going to attempt to be a decent person with his new team then maybe he really _should_ defect to Lothor, because at that point he would be about just as good as him.

Shaking his head to ward off those less-pleasant thoughts, Hunter looked at his watch and frowned, startled that so much time had passed. It was already 12:30 and he was still out here?

_Okay, what's the plan?_

He could do a few more laps, leave the track around 1:00, go home, shower, have a snack, get some homework done, pick up some food and be at the Ops around three or four to bug Cam time before they had training.

Hunter shut his water bottle and tossed it into his bag, then jetted back onto the track, increasing his speed to intimidate the other riders.

He might not be as competitive a racer as his brother was, but they still needed to know who was boss.

-:-:-:-:-:-

He didn't want to wake up.

Ever since Cam had begun to run himself ragged, in the few moments he _had_ managed to snag for sleeping purposes he hadn't wanted to wake up even though he knew he had to.

But it was different this time.

Something…Was he rested?

As he began to stir into complete consciousness, shedding the haze of dormancy, he realized that as opposed to his usual battles with waking he actually felt…refreshed.

This fact did not bring him any comfort.

If he was rested then that meant he’d overslept, which meant he was behind on work and he wouldn't have everything he needed to get done completed before training tonight. He would have to scramble to make up for the time he’d lost and if his father even gave the smallest _hint_ that he needed to meditate today there was going to be a great deal of explaining to do to the rest of the team, because Ninja Ops would be in shambles from the meltdown that would follow thereafter. Thoroughly awake (Cam had assumed, but was proven wrong a few seconds later) he craned his neck to see exactly how much time had wasted in his sloth. It took a moment for him to realize that he actually had to struggle to view his clock, and then it took another few seconds for him to realize _why_.

Distantly, Cam was aware that there _had_ to be a logical explanation as to why Shane appeared to be contently resting next to him, in his _bed_ , but for the life of him he could not discover what it _was_. Granted, there was the slightest possibility that Cam hadn’t been conscious for the affair, because the last thing he recalled had been him willing his fingers to keep up with the furious stream of code blazing through his mind and then nothing. Were his predicament the result of his sole actions he had no doubt he would be passed out over his computer.

…maybe.

It was something he would rather not think about.

"You awake?"

The voice was quiet, and Cam resisted the urge to scoff at what a stupid question it was. Shane _knew_ he was awake, had to, so Cam wondered if it might have been posed as an opportunity to give him an out, to let him go back to sleep.

Taking a steady breath, Cam forced himself to push away all his tension, he demanded his body relax and…take the moment to enjoy what fate had given him.

It wasn't like he got to snuggle often.

(Though were they being specific about it he knew in truth it wasn’t cuddling _per se_ , more like a familiar closeness of proximity. Something casual like…friends maybe. Or family).

Before he could fall back into dreamland, Shane cut to the chase. "Did you get enough sleep?"

His voice fought to stay the same but Cam still detected undertones of concern, causing his frown to deepen and his desire to know the events of last night to grow.

"I'm fine," his mouth responded before his brain could formulate a proper plan for attaining this knowledge.

Shane shed some light on the situation anyway. "You weren't earlier."

_What happened earlier?_

He really hoped he had been asleep for the entire affair and not spouting off nonsense like his worries or stresses or… _Hunter_. It was the main cause of Cam’s worry; saying things he should not have said, admitting something he wanted to hide.

"How long has it been this bad?" Shane asked, and while he doesn’t back away from Cam he _did_ sit up some so that they are no longer lying by each other.

Did he mean the workload? How would Shane even know about that? And if he did assume Cam required m1ore sleep (desperately; he was almost surprised the others hadn’t noticed it, though perhaps his skill to mask it really _was_ that good), why would he have stayed behind? Why not simply leave Cam to sleep and be done with it?

"What are you talking about?" Cam asked carefully, deciding vagueness would be a solid enough approach to help him attain the basics.

Cam couldn’t see Shane’s face but he could tell by the way the red ranger’s grip tightened against the top of his comforter that he was frowning. "The overworking, the lack of sleep, the…" He paused, like he didn't mean to start stating the third problem and Cam could feel his heart stop, because if Shane came in on him completely out of it from fatigue he _might_ have said something he hadn't wanted to say, but then why should he panic because he's still here right and-

"…the loneliness," Shane finished anticlimactically, and Cam's heart began beating again just as his lungs remembered how to breathe.

He was going to go ahead and assume by the fact Shane hadn't started hitting on him (two months ago he wouldn't have been able to pick up on the signs of flirtation, but thanks to Hunter he was now properly educated) that by "loneliness" the red ranger meant "lack of affection", which kind of made everything click into place a little. Is also slightly relieved Cam because he did _not_ admit to his leader that he was gay on accident.

He knew he should, and would, at some point. He just didn’t want to do it _now_.

Cam swallowed nervously, wondering how the red ranger had come to this conclusion. "Did I…say something?"

Luckily, this seemed to be the correct response, because Shane didn't seem at all surprised by his confusion (which meant he _did_ do some sleep talking). "You asked me to stay," he explained.

It couldn’t be that simple, it just _couldn’t_.

…but yes, yes it could. Despite the complete lack of faith and trust Cam had put in the red ranger with in the beginning, the Shane of now was a changed person. He understood his responsibilities and he cared for his team. Even if he didn’t always know the right thing to do for them, even when Shane’s intentions went astray, he tried to do right by them.

And Cam was part of his team now, which meant his welfare was Shane’s too.

Just as simple as that.

He glanced at the clock, struggling to think of an appropriate response, and found that it was 3:46.

3:46

… _pm_

That was _not_ a pleasant bombshell.

Before he had the opportunity to sufficiently express his distaste for his own sloth and attempt to get at least _some_ of the work he had planned today complete, Shane was in front of him, gripping both of his shoulders with a strength that would not be denied and an authority that willed Cam to do as he asked.

“I need to get to work Shane.” Cam didn’t plead, he merely stated, because it was true. Shane could see that he was rested; he had slept, now he _needed_ to do his job.

“Cam-” Shane started, but the tech cut him off.

“I don’t have time for this.”

"You don't have time for sleep?" Shane asked, attempting to sound friendly, but the subtle exasperation was clear enough.

He was aware it was something to be concerned about, that this…nap only added to the stresses of the day, but Cam couldn’t allow himself to be bogged down with that now. There _was_ a light at the end of the tunnel; he just needed to reach it.

"I'm working on that," he explained quietly, willing for Shane to trust him on this one. To understand the words he didn’t say, to blindly place his faith in Cam just _one_ more time. That was all he needed.

"What, are you going to make more time?"

This time his voice is full of entertainment, an attempt to make Cam see how foolish he was being.

But he wasn't.

"Not quite," he said and a feeling akin to failure settled over him, aware he was not satisfying the red ranger. He had kept Shane in the dark for too long and now the other teen wasn’t sure he could trust him.

Shane sighed. "Cam, we can help-"

"No you can't!" Cam snapped before he even realized it, and then the floodgates were open and all the _garbage_ that he'd been building up came spilling out of his mouth with absolutely no filter. "I know you mean well," he began, aggravated. "And you want to help, but the bottom line is that _I'm_ the only one who can handle things around here, and you should know that _I_ don't like the fact that I have to run myself ragged anymore than you do and if you would just _trust_ me you’d realize I'm trying to fix that!"

Instead of frustration or hurt he as met by a small laugh and Shane, curse him, was still as calm and collected as he was when Cam first woke up.

The apology that followed was also unexpected.

"I'm sorry," Shane replied after he had given Cam enough time to moderately calm down. "If you've got it covered, you've got it covered, but you should know we're still going to worry."

"Duly noted," Cam muttered, abashed by his sudden outburst and slightly off center. "Now," he continued, because they were finally seeing eye-to-eye. "The…sleeping thing."

Shane picked up on his hint and began to explain; releasing Cam’s shoulders and leaning back as he did so. "Last night you asked me to stay," he said again and Cam fought off the urge to throw a shoe at him.

While first that would require _locating_ a shoe, that was an endeavor that would only grow in its appeal the more Shane felt like stubbornly repeating himself.

"You already said that." Cam didn't quite snap, and he could hear Shane make a placating gesture (or what he assumed to be one).

"Sorry it's just…a little hard to explain," Shane replied, and Cam was about to retort " _then try to"_ but Shane seemed to sense his aggravation so he continued, "You need it."

"I _need_ it?" Cam echoed, incredulous, still wondering how Shane had come to this conclusion, but the other teen didn't seem to want to give him any ground on that matter.

"Just trust me," Shane urged, placing a hand against his shoulder. "Everyone needs a hug now and then."

It was an opening, a perfect opportunity to move on and while Cam's brain processed this his mouth did not, and decided to point out, "That wasn't a hug."

“No,” Shane agreed. “That was naptime. And sometimes…well, sometimes naptime needs company right?”

“…Right.” Cam found agreeing would be the easiest on his mind this early in the morning. As Shane obviously didn’t seem all that concerned with the oddity that was group naptime, Cam wasn’t going to burden himself with those concerns either. It was what it was.

And there was the slightest chance it was…nice, though Cam couldn’t help but feel there was a certain something missing.

Or perhaps, _someone_.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Cam was (as Shane expected him to be) embarrassed by his need for physical interaction. Dustin had been that way too, back when they had first met, but now he was comfortable enough - and trusted them enough - to seek out what he needed from his friends. As welcoming as they were to Cam though, Shane seriously doubted the tech would take the same initiative no matter _how_ much they assured him they were okay with it.

"You're crazy," Cam finally declared, feigning annoyance to cover up embarrassment. Instead of addressing their topic of conversation any further he stood up and flipped on the lights, momentarily blinding both of them. When Shane’s vision returned Cam was across the room again with his glasses on and was rummaging through one of his dressers for clothes.

Shane had to try awfully hard not to look too terribly pleased with himself. Cam was already off to a better start. Pacing himself, maybe.

As though sensing his thoughts the tech glared at him over his shoulder and slammed the drawer shut before making his way to the bathroom. He paused just before the entrance, turning with his hand on the doorknob. "If you knock and I don't answer, I am meditating." He paused for what Shane assumed was dramatic affect. "Do _not come in._ "

Shane gave him a cheerful thumbs up in response, to which Cam rolled his eyes, and then the red ranger was alone in the bedroom - listening to the powerful blast of water.

He mentally reviewed his list.

Sleeping?

Done for the day.

Company?

Also done for the day (It was Cam, a little bit went a long way).

Bathing?

In progress.

All that left was food and while Shane might not be the best chef, he knew he could whip up a mean sandwich.

With a smile he hopped off the bed, quickly making his way to the kitchen.

If he had the food done by the time Cam got out there was no way he could say no.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Shane was in the middle of weighing the benefits of mayo vs. mustard when he caught the sound of footsteps coming from down the hall. They originated from the direction of the entrance, and a moment later Hunter popped his head into the room, investigating the reason for the lights.

Confusion followed when he caught sight of Shane and he stepped completely into the kitchen, arms laden with plastic bags filled with what smelled distinctly of barbeque.

That was… unexpected. Did Hunter and Cam have some kind of secret friendship going on or something? Shane supposed it would make sense, but Dustin hadn’t said anything about it and he was with Cam practically all the time. If anyone would have noticed, it would be him.

So what was this? Hunter finally got tired of Dustin not-being gay so he was going to start bothering Cam or something? Give him more to worry about. Shane didn’t like it, at _all_ ; this was his team and he looked out for them, but Hunter was on his team too, so he couldn’t start jumping to conclusions just yet.

He would ask Cam about it later.

"Looking for Cam?" Shane asked nonchalantly, forcing his voice to sound pleasant.

Hunter ignored his question, going for a round-about answer. “The others are down by the beach,” he inspected the sandwich making stuff quizzically, raising an eyebrow. “You should go join them.”

Shane tensed but kept his smile firmly in place. Cam wasn’t Dustin; Cam didn’t need his protection from Hunter.

That was right; there was really nothing to be worried about. Cam would be more than happy to thoroughly explain how _wrong_ Hunter was. Probably in as sarcastic and belittling fashion as possible. He would do a better job of it than Shane ever could. If _that_ was what this visit was about.

Now there was an idea.

The forced smile instantly became a lot more genuine, and leaving became a much more appealing option. Still, Shane knew that he wouldn't normally give in so easily so he had to put up at least _some_ kind of a fight, just to make it seem legit. "And miss the barbeque?"

Cam would smack him down _so_ hard.

The blond actually smiled at that, shaking his head in mock sadness. "Sorry man, only brought enough for two."

_Sure you did_.

Shane narrowed his eyes slightly, but kept the smile on his face. "Maybe next time."

"Whatever," Hunter murmured, happy that he'd won but a little sick of the delays. "Where's Cam?"

"Shower; told me not to bother him." The response was casual, again.

He was becoming a pro.

"The cove right?" he asked, switching gears because leaving seemed to be the only remaining option for him.

"Right," Hunter replied and they exchanged their goodbyes, casual, again, and parted; Shane making his way out of Ninja Ops.

He called Cam on his way out to give him a heads up, then made his way back to his house.

After today there would be no need to worry about Hunter.

Everything would be fine.


	17. A Change In Me

Dustin was pretty sure that one of the basic rules in life was that bubbles were supposed to always lead to happiness.

Except for the odd, unprecedented occasion when bubbles did _not_ equal happiness, and in fact _did_ equal a very loud and blaring reminder that intelligence was _not_ one of his strengths.

His kitchen sink looked rabid. It was foaming, and angry, and bubbling and he didn't know why or even _how_ ; and he had tried to look up answers on Google, but it seemed like nobody else in the world had ever even remotely had the same problem as him. Also, _"What do I do with a bubbling kitchen sink?"_ did _not_ lead to happy search results and should forever be avoided as a topic because apparently some people out there were confused with what a kitchen sink _was_ and even more confused about what the verb "bubbling" meant.

So now he had to quarantine his computer for a week and he _still_ didn’t know what was wrong.

Dustin was about to chalk it up to a Lothor attack and call for the team's back up when he opened his dishwasher and immediately discovered the origin of the bubble mystery. It was an avalanche like no other, bombarding Dustin's face and moving onto the floor to conquer the rest of the kitchen tile by tile. Soon everything on the ground within a five foot radius of his dishwasher was covered with demon bubbles, innocently and maniacally attacking it all with complete disregard to proper bubble conduct.

This was _not_ how bubbles behaved.

Was this a prank? Had someone snuck in and put bubbles in his dishwasher?

No… it didn't smell like usual bubbles; that was more chemical-like and unpleasant (the one real downside to bubbles, aside from when they decided to declare war on your face and subsequently your kitchen), this smelled more like-

Coconut?

He quickly lunged, then slid, then collapsed against the cabinet under his sink, whipping it open and rummaging around its dingy innards for that new bottle of dish cleaner he had bought.

Only it wasn't dish cleaner at all; it was hand soap.

_Huh_ , kind of a weird thing to mix up. So there was the answer to that question. Also, he now knew what happened when you didn’t use the proper cleaning solution for its proper job.

The bubbles got angry.

Sighing, he carelessly tossed the soap bottle back into the cabinet and dug around for a bucket and a rag.

His clothes were pretty much a lost cause by this point, just like his hair and his face and especially his socks (the real comfy ones that he specifically reserved for at-home usage) so he didn’t bother changing. After wiping off his face and then _re_ -wiping off his face because using a soap-covered arm to clear away soap wasn’t really the most effective way to do things, Dustin rummaged up a few more old towels and started covering the perimeter of the frothy mess; attempting a barricade to keep it from spreading further.

There was nothing therapeutic about shepherding bubbles into a bucket. First of all they were mean (probably because they had been misused and abused and wanted him to know they were not at all pleased by that) and secondly, they seemed to have a tendency to aim themselves more for his eyes than his actual cleaning pail. It was like an evil little game for them, every so often they would build up and he would lose control and his face would become the target of a bubble rage kamikaze attack. By the time he finished cleaning off the floor on one side of the kitchen's island he had emptied the bucket five times, had been face-attacked four, and his eyes were stinging so badly he just kind of wanted to huddle into a ball and give into his desire to cry.

He didn’t fully register that there was another person in the room until they were hovering right behind him, staring at the viscous bubbles with intense fascination. Or what he assumed was intense fascination, because he couldn’t really see anything right now so he was mostly just filling in the blanks as best he could.

"Dude, what happened?"

Hunter, got it; it was Hunter the cool guy. Who had now just witnessed Dustin be incredibly _not_ cool.

The mechanic shrugged sheepishly, keeping his face turned away from the blond as he herded some more foam into his bucket. "I confused dish soap with hand soap."

Hunter let out a low whistle, still taking in the waves of churning white. "I see that did not end well."

"Nope," Dustin replied, scrunching his eyes closed as he was attacked _yet again_ by the bubble brigade. Hands still slick from cleaning, he lost his grip on the bucket and it clattered to the ground while he reminded his hands that the _last_ thing they needed to do was go anywhere near his face. He exhaled sharply, trying to figure out if there was a clean spot on his shoulder left when Hunter's hand slid around his back and gripped the base of his neck. A kind of warm material was gently pressed against his eyes, wiping away the remaining soap.

When the material was pulled away Dustin risked opening his eyes, only to find that the crimson ranger was gone. He blinked again, heat still welling behind his eyes, and he turned his face away from the bubbles, attempting to…give his eyes some breathing room?

Whatever, he was getting sick of looking at this mess.

Hunter reappeared quickly, clean, dry towel in hand, and he gave it over to Dustin so that he could fix his hands-can't-get-near-face problem. Dustin gave a spastic wave to show his thanks and he was about to ask what Hunter had used earlier when the blond nodded his head towards a piece of black material Dustin hadn't previously seen that was hanging over the edge of the island. It looked like one of the over shirts he had seen Hunter wear from time to time and he instantly felt guilty for ruining (because at the rate these bubbles were going it _had_ to be ruined) his friend’s shirt.

Hunter cut him off before he can say anything about it.

"Don't sweat it Dustin."

The yellow ranger snapped his mouth closed, looking away not-completely relieved.

The tall thunder brother was gone before he could find a way to express this, leaving him staring blankly at an empty space, and just as suddenly as the blond disappeared, he was back again, second bucket, rag, and two sets of rubber gloves in his hand.

Rubber gloves…yeah, that would probably make this a lot easier.

It would sure make Dustin hate his hands less.

He slipped his gloves on awkwardly (he always confused which one should go where and it never failed that no matter what he did he always put them on the wrong hands first) and Hunter moved to the other side of the island, attacking the sea of bubbles so that they would meet in the middle.

Dustin paused again and blinked in confusion, something…there was something-

Oh, that was it.

He cleared his throat hesitantly while he restarted his task, hand slowly swiping at his daemon bubbles.

"Hey uh…why are you here?"

He didn't mind Hunter being here, especially with him helping to clean up the mess Dustin had made, not that he wouldn't have hated him being here if he _wasn't_ helping him; even if the blond had chosen to just sit at the kitchen table making snappy comments Dustin would have appreciated his company (even if that would make him cry a little on the inside, and possibly the outside), but it was just-

He came here for something right?

"I need your expertise."

Dustin frowned, wondering what he could possibly know that Hunter didn’t.

"On what?"

The guy was way smarter than he was.

"I want to get Cam a gift, and I figured; you know him best, so I should ask you about it."

Why did he want to give Cam a gift?

And then the rest of that statement hit Dustin and he was slightly overwhelmed by the fact that the crimson ranger thought _he_ knew Cam the best.

He took a moment to let that make him feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

Mood ridiculously cheerful, Dustin gave into his curiosity, scrubbing at his floor with renewed energy.

"What do you want to give him a gift for?"

Was it Cam's birthday? Dustin knew that the tech's birthday came before all of theirs and it was sometime in the winter, or was it the fall?

"I'm trying to ask Cam out," the crimson ranger admitted.

Well, that was good then right? Hunter was trying to reach out and become better pals with Cam. _Awesome_. Hey, maybe if he was really nice Hunter would invite him too.

Yeah, Dustin could just casually drop that into his answer.

The curly-haired teen felt a smile spread across his face, thinking of all the super sweet things they could trick Cam into doing.

"Well why don't you just ask him, that usually works for me," Dustin replied, voice cheerful. "Like, he might drag his feet a little at first but usually he's pretty good natured about that kind of thing, but…oh, he's been a little grumpy lately so you probably still want to get him that present." He blinked slowly, realizing he left something out. "Hey, uh, can I come?"

Because he did not want to miss out on happy-Hunter-Cam times.

Hunter didn’t immediately respond, which worried Dustin because he didn't actually think the blond would say no. What if it was really exclusive, like what if Hunter could only score one other ticket to this super secret thing and he didn't want Dustin to feel bad and-

"Not…" Hunter began suddenly, breaking Dustin out of his thoughts. "There's so many things wrong with…" he trailed off and sighed; a particular sigh that Dustin knew from many a study session was followed by a sad head shake. "I want to ask Cam on a date."

… _what?_

It was like…an error message or something, in his head.

_Error, error, does not compute._

What did Hunter mean by ‘ask on a date’?

"…What?" Dustin asked, titling his head off to the side as though his kitchen ceiling could reveal the answer he was so desperately looking for.

"A date," Hunter repeated, sounding oddly patient. "You do know what a date is right?"

Of course Dustin knew what a date was; he used to watch TV _all_ the time before he went to the Wind Academy. He'd seen plenty of different examples of good dates and bad dates and _really_ bad dates.

Yeah…TV might have scared him away from dating.

Still, he was beginning to think that Hunter might be a little confused on how the whole process worked.

"Yeah," Dustin explained, finally getting to be the one to teach something for a change. "You take a girl to the movies or to dinner or bowling or something like that, and then you drive her home and kiss her."

Actually that was just a basic outline on what happened on _most_ dates. As the earth ninja said before, some of them did not go _nearly_ that well.

There was a quiet pause from Hunter's side of the kitchen and Dustin could hear him grunt in exertion, probably his first bubble attack (the first one was the worst).

Another pause (cleaning away the shame) and then Hunter got back to him, coughing quietly. "Or a guy."

The confusion was back (was it ever really gone?) and Dustin returned to his ceiling for answers, begging it to break its silence and divulge the secrets of thunderhood he was sure it probably knew. Maybe he should call Blake; the other Bradley could probably explain it to him.

" _Or a guy…"_

It took a few seconds for Dustin to figure out a plausible way for Hunter's comment to _kind_ of fit into what he had just said, and the curly-haired teen’s head began to hurt from all the contradictions.

"But then it wouldn't be a date," Dustin marveled, thinking back to all the TV shows and soaps he had seen his sister watch, and while they _did_ go through a multitude of different people (this one guy went from a blonde, to a redhead, to a brunette, to back to the same blonde again all within one week, which was pretty amazing because Dustin was pretty sure they were still brewing the same pot of coffee during all of those episodes), he definitely knew, for a fact, that there had to be a boy and a girl.

It was like, basic science.

Except that Hunter didn’t like the idea of basic science (which would make him a very bad match for Cam, were Cam a girl, because appreciation for like, the rules of the universe was one of Cam's necessities, or Dustin assumed it was because Cam seemed like that kind of guy _(guy, clearly not a girl)_ ) so the crimson ranger countered Dustin’s argument with a simple, "Yes, it would."

If Dustin had _thought_ his head was hurting earlier, it was nothing compared to what it was now. He had to put down his bucket and rag just so he could lean against the counter long enough for the spinning to stop.

No, _no it wouldn't_ ; he knew this, it was an _undeniable_ _fact_. Why would they put it on all the shows and books and movies if it was a _lie_?

Dustin scrubbed at his head, confused and sad and betrayed, re-soaping his face anew. He growled, throwing off his gloves and shoving his arms against his chest, sliding down and resting his back against the side of the island.

He couldn't focus on both things at once.

_Wait_ , TV wasn't the only place he had gotten his info.

He perked up a little, enough to lift his head. "My sister says guys are only supposed to date girls."

And Dustin’s sister, while not his biggest fan, would never lie to him. Like, ever. Even when his feelings were at stake she had always been brutally (and he meant _brutally_ ) honest.

Well, that should put an end to _that_ conversation.

He should start looking for his gloves again.

But Hunter, being Hunter, was by no means done.

"Dustin, do you know what the word 'gay' means?"

…or Dustin had _thought_ he wasn't done, but apparently they were going to just change the subject now.

Right then. Whatever.

Smiling brightly (now _that_ confusing conversation was finally over he could get back to work) Dustin began to explain.

"Yeah, it means lame or happy." But more often than not it meant lame. Dustin hadn't even _known_ it could mean happy until Tori had told him. "The guys at school call me that sometimes but I don't really know which definition they mean. I've never worked up the nerve to ask them." He hoped it was the happy one, not that he was ever really happy at school; he just hadn't thought he had done something that warranted being lame. "Is that right?" he asked, trying to be polite.

Hunter hesitated before replying.

"…No," he answered, sounding confused (well that made two of them). "Well, yes, it means that, but it also means that you like guys."

So there was a hidden third definition?

_Huh_ …

Dustin would think a secret definition would be a little less…lame. Like, more exclusive, or something.

"So everybody's gay?" the brunette asked, scratching the side of his head.

Hunter's voice sounded startled whenever he replied.

"What?"

"Well," Dustin began, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I don't think there're that many people out there who _don't_ like guys."

In fact, the only person he could really think of who _didn't_ like guys was Lothor, but he didn't count because he pretty much hated everybody.

The head-shaking sigh was back.

"No, not like…" Hunter sighed again, and Dustin almost told him to stop cleaning because he didn’t want to risk him passing out and choking to death on bubbles. “It's when a guy finds _other_ guys sexually attractive."

A few minutes later, Dustin was still blinking stupidly at his kitchen cabinets, trying to mash together the pieces of a puzzle that clearly did not belong together.

Desperate for an answer that made sense, Dustin glared in Hunter's general direction, mentally shaking a fist. "…You're playing a joke on me, aren't you?"

That had to be it, this was all some elaborate-

"You've never heard of this?" Hunter asked, sounding honestly bothered by this idea, and Dustin had to fight not to jump over the island and punch the blond in the face. While Dustin was game for a joke at his expense (he wasn't a _complete_ party pooper), enough was _enough_. He had thought Hunter knew that by now.

The yellow ranger bit back his anger, trying to go for the disappointed approach (he always felt ten times worse whenever Sensei was disappointed as to when he was mad).

"I'm going to believe you and then I'm going to go ask Shane about it and he's going to look at me like I'm crazy. Well, not today mister," Dustin lectured, wagging his finger even though the other ranger couldn’t see it, and he could hear Hunter putting down his bucket with a sigh.

_Stupid sigh. Stupid Hunter._

"Dustin, this is a real thing," Hunter urged, but Dustin shook his head thoroughly, disagreeing.

"I probably would have noticed something like that." Sure, he wasn't the most observant of guys but guys like, making out with _other_ guys was something that was really hard to miss.

The closest he’d ever seen to anything like that was brotherly love and he was _pretty_ sure that wasn’t what Hunter was talking about. And there was no way Dustin was going to ask him if there was any funny business going on between him and Blake. Partly because if he said yes, Dustin didn’t want to be the one to tell Tori.

And it would be gross.

He didn’t notice the footsteps (again, because he was too busy glaring at his bubble mess, deep in thought) and suddenly Hunter's hand was on his shoulder. Dustin turned to see the crimson ranger crouched beside him, staring at him earnestly.

"Dustin," he said, looking him dead in the eye. " _I_ like guys."

There a moment where Dustin didn’t want to believe him, where this…idea, this huge thing was just too much for Dustin to understand and he just wanted to-

But that kind of…you couldn’t fake honesty like that. Dustin didn’t… well, ever since the whole Toxipod island thing he and Hunter had kind of bonded and he wouldn't-

He wouldn't take a joke this far would he? Not anymore.

That meant…

Hunter _like_ -liked guys.

_He_ \- Dustin’s brain went numb, and he couldn't really think about how that made him feel.

But his mouth, ever the trooper, carried on without him, and he blinked at Hunter slowly. "You're gay?"

The crimson ranger visibly relaxed (it was nice to know Dustin wasn't the only one bothered by the trust issue) but his eyes remained steady. "I'm bi."

"What?" Dustin exclaimed, rubbing the side of his head furiously. "You said-"

Hunter interrupted him before he could get too far. "I _also_ like girls."

_What?_

"Gay guys can't like girls?"

His head hurt.

"No," Hunter answered, reaching out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's the definition-"

"I'm _so_ confused," Dustin confessed and Hunter gave him a pitying look, one he often gave the brunette during their tutoring sessions.

Dustin sort of hated that look, just a little, though he supposed he had really earned it.

"Look," Hunter began, making sure he had Dustin's full attention. "If a guy only likes other guys, he's gay." He paused to make sure it computed and Dustin nodded, allowing him to move on. "If he likes guys _and_ girls, he's bi."

…Oh…okay.

"I guess that makes sense," Dustin admitted, running a hand through his hair.

If a guy only liked guys, he was gay; if he liked guys _and_ girls he wasn’t gay and…wait.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, _wait_.

"…Holy crap." Dustin whispered, eyes widening in sudden realization.

That meant…if there was a word for it that meant- guys could like _other_ guys, like, _really_ like, like date _them_ , instead of girls? Instead of mean, angry, soul crushing females?

(That wasn’t fair. That wasn’t fair in so many ways because _Tori_ wasn’t a soul-crushing female and neither was his sister Liv, or Kelly, or Shane’s sister Dana and he knew at school nine times out of ten a girl would be more willing and less intimidating to work with on school projects than any of the guys, were more friendly and patient and less scary- Dustin _knew_ that, but he also knew he was…scared of them, a little. There was something there he was supposed to see that he didn’t, he thought, by the way all the other guys talked about it, by what he’d seen on the internet and tv and movies but he didn’t- and that _scared_ him. Because if he couldn’t fit into normal company with a bunch of fellow males then _what chance_ did he have with ladies? He didn’t, that was what. Zero chance. Negative chance. If there was a way he could _owe_ the universe chances he would have. He had just assumed he would live the rest of his life on his lonesome, no ladies, no scary, _scary_ ladies who could turn mean if they wanted to, were even more frightening than guys because they hid their meanness behind smiles, you never knew you were forbidden from their presence until they deemed you worthy enough to tell you and-)

And if he _didn’t_ have to date girls…

"I didn't even know that was an option!" Dustin exclaimed, grabbing at the sides of his head because his mind had been thoroughly blown. "If I had known that I would have…"

He trailed off, unsure how to continue, because he wasn’t really sure _what_ he would have done but he didn't know, _he didn't know_ , and why hadn't anyone told him?

He had thought he was going to grow old and die all alone.

Hunter looked at him with that look Cam usually got when he _really_ wanted to figure out the answer to some riddle or puzzle or code or something and nothing was going to stop him from doing it. Unused to it being aimed at _him_ , Dustin squirmed under the stare, fidgeting slightly.

"You would have… what?" Hunter asked, enthralled, and Dustin wished he could just think of a way to end this conversation so he could go talk to Cam about this whole gay-thing.

"…Nothing," he mumbled, edging away from Hunter slowly, but the crimson ranger just followed him (see, totally like Cam) moving his other arm so that he had a hold of both of Dustin's shoulders.

The yellow ranger gulped, trying not to look at intimidated as he felt.

He failed. Not surprising, but he _was_ dealing with a thunder ranger so he thought it was reasonable.

"Dustin," Hunter asked, patient and quiet and completely serious and so different from any other time he was with Dustin that it scared him a little. "Do you like guys?"

Had Hunter asked him that when he first got here Dustin would have said yes, no problem. Dustin would have said yes and meant it because he hadn't known that-

He hadn't known he was allowed to romance a guy.

And he wasn’t sure why that made a difference but it just- it _did_ , okay? It did and even _his_ stupidly below-average brain could comprehend that.

Mind buzzing, the brunette tried to pull away from Hunter again (feebly, more for appearances sake than anything else but it made him feel _a little_ better).

"I…" Dustin mumbled, heat rising to his face. It was like school; he didn’t know the answer and it was killing him. "Girls are mean," he settled on, staring at the bubbles.

It was inaccurate, but he could hide behind that. Dustin knew that from experience.

Hunter's voice was still serious (Dustin just…he couldn’t look at him) whenever he replied. "Just because you've had bad experiences with girls doesn't mean you're gay Dustin."

Dustin hadn’t known Hunter taking his words seriously would lead to his inevitable defeat. He probably should have.

But then again, what if you never, never, _never_ wanted to be around them…ever (except for Tori, and Kelly, but he never had any sudden urges to kiss them _either_ ).

And that wasn’t true _either_ because…Dustin didn’t think about romance. He had always thought it was beyond him. And just because he was uneasy around girls wasn’t a reason _not_ to date them; that wouldn’t affect if he wanted to like…kiss them and stuff but…

Well, he had never really _wanted_ to kiss them and stuff. He had assumed that was because he knew he never had a shot at it, so his brain had like, prepared him for it, just focused on the high points in his life, what he could achieve, but there was something about this gay-business…

There was something about it Dustin liked.

And that scared him.

"But…" Dustin mumbled, looking up at Hunter timidly as he tried to focus his brain on something else, something he _knew_. "I like _you_ guys."

Even Dustin could piece this one together. Because in just about _every_ romantic comedy the boy and the girl (or the boy and the boy, he supposed now) became best-friends before they were dating. It was obvious. At the beginning of the movie the guy would be dating some horrible female and his best friend-girl would be waiting on the sidelines, totally perfect for him but he’d be too blind to see it until the end of the movie and then there would be a romantic declaration of love and kisses and flowers and tears and sometimes a puppy, and two people who were _made_ for each other would ride off into the sunset, achieving a happiness they well and truly deserved.

To date someone, to _really_ _like_ -like them, you had to know them first. Meaning you had to be friends, good ones for Dustin, and if guys were now an option…

He had four to choose from.

And you know what? He really _did_ like them. The team was his family and there weren't any other people in the world he would ever want to spend time with. He would do anything for them ( _anything_ , he meant it) and if something bad ever happened to them, if one of them ever…got bored of him and left, or if they got hurt…it would just kill him.

If there had been anything…any…feelings, he couldn't-

Nothing; he’d never let anything get in the way that could come between him and his friends because-

If…what if they didn’t like him?

Like, _like_ him- like him.

Back outside his head Hunter was still talking, voice soothing but firm. "That doesn't make you gay either."

Yeah, Dustin being lame or being happy or _really_ liking other guys made him gay but what-?

Million dollar question, he had to ask it.

The brunette cleared his throat quietly, working up the nerve to ask what he really needed to ask. "Well, how do you know if you're attracted to…to a guy?"

Stupid, _stupid_ ; Dustin bet everyone in the _world_ knew this already, he was- but he _needed_ to know this. For the queasiness in his stomach, and the lightness in his head, and the instability of his world- this thing, this idea that kept-

It was like when you saw something forever and ever, and you never _really_ noticed it until someone pointed it out to you, and suddenly it was-

_Bam_ , everywhere.

Hunter gave a bit of a smile, a _real_ smile, and Dustin immediately relaxed. "Usually you have these urges to make out with them."

He _knew_ that but-

"I've never…" Dustin began, trying to phrase it right. "I…don't really want to make out with anyone." Because no one ever seemed to want to make out with _him_. "Or, if I did I want it to be…to be you guys but I couldn't…"

_I couldn't ruin everything._

There was a painful pause, air heavy or pulsing or whatever air got like when something monumental was about to happen and Dustin finally got the courage to stare Hunter dead in the eye. "You like guys?"

The crimson ranger nodded at the quiet question, confident in what he was. "That's what I said."

How could he…he wanted to-

Could Dustin even ask, was that even allowed?

Why couldn't he have psychic powers and be able to tell Hunter all of this with his mind?

_Because if I did his brain would have melted from frantic-thinking overload._

And good teammates didn’t break their friends’ brains. That was not nice.

Dustin was hesitant, and scared, scared about everything (he hated change, it was so…different) and scared about possible punches that could be thrown to his face, but he had come this far and how could he stop now and-

"Could you…" the yellow ranger asked, trailing off, not entirely sure how but Hunter seemed to get it, to understand what he wanted because in the next second the blond's lips were against his, and Dustin had to remind himself that on top of everything else kisses were supposed to be done with your eyes closed.

There were a million different things running through his mind, and he could barely give any thought to any of them because he was trying so hard to focus on what was going on _outside_ his head. There was a hand in his hair and another on his back and it felt really good especially when _that_ spot was-

Hunter's lips were soft, but that shouldn’t be a surprise because they were lips and they were _supposed_ to be soft (Dustin's were soft, why should Hunter's be any exception?) and they were kind of like two of the _best_ _pillows_ _ever;_ they were soft and Dustin should really be getting off how soft they were because they were moving and that felt even better than the hair-touching thing and-

Hunter pulled back and Dustin was gasping, finally realizing that he hadn't been breathing during that whole exchange. His head was still reeling but his voice begged for more, because that had felt _so_ good and why couldn't he have figured this gay thing out sooner?

"Can…" he gasped, putting on his best puppy eyes. "Can we…?"

"Do it again?" Hunter asked, smirk firmly in place. Something within Dustin flared at the sight; which was weird because that had never happened before and Hunter smirked like, eighteen times a day. He didn’t get a chance to ask about it because Hunter was immediately on him again, pressing him into the counter and moving his lips in a…Dustin didn’t know how to describe it; he’ never-

There was a…wet!

The brunette jumped a bit, startled as Hunter broke away long enough (and Dustin may or may not have whined when it happened; he actually _wasn’t_ sure) but then he figured out it was just so the blond could breathe and chuckle (stupid breathing…and chuckling) and then he comforted the yellow ranger with a small peck before getting onto that wet-

Tongue, Dustin finally realized, sliding across his bottom lip and he didn’t know what to do (were his lips tasty? What if lips were _really_ tasty and he was missing out) so he opened up his mouth so he could try it and suddenly Hunter's tongue was with his tongue and _holy-goodness-that-was-so-much-better._

So…yes, to that guy-liking thing. That should feel like a world-shattering thing to discover.

Right now Dustin couldn’t care less.

There was a voice in the back of his mind that was telling him that this should be gross but he drowned it out with some sweet mood music (he wasn’t entirely sure what it sounded like because he usually switched the channel when he got to that part so he just kind of winged it) and he tried to hold onto the churning chaos that was now his mind, handling all these new sensations.

Just as he was starting to get the flow of things Hunter pulled back. A wave of disappointment wash over the earth ninja. Just as Dustin was about to ask for more (seeing as Hunter was so nice about it the first time) the blond pulled him up off the ground, switching their positions so that they were standing with Dustin's back against the island counter. But before the curly-haired teen got a chance to ask _why_ Hunter started doing this thing to his neck that felt _really_ awesome. Seriously, Dustin had no idea what was going on down there, but it _almost_ felt better than that feeling he got whenever he won a race. It was warm and a little wet and for some odd reason he kept feeling hot but he knew they weren’t doing that much-

Hunter's hands were on his hips, one of them sliding under his shirt and rubbing against Dustin’s abs in this painfully slow way that made his face feel hot and he felt a little bad because he didn't want to leave Hunter hanging because he wasn't really doing anything so he slid a hand under _his_ shirt so that he could feel his back, all muscle-y and smooth and _awesome_ and-

He almost didn't notice with everything that was going on, Hunter's leg slowly slide up between his, closing the gap between them and _everything_ was touching; their legs and their chest and their arms and he was so close and-

Hunter shifted, or something shifted and brushed against Dustin's…private place and there was this… he didn't know if he should run but it felt _so_ good, hot and sparking and friction and he had almost gotten used to it maybe but then the leg really moved and-

He was across the room in an instant, huddling in a puddle of bubbles on the other side of the island, freaking out (because he had known it was going to be good but he hadn’t thought it was going to be _that_ good) while his…He went through puberty, he knew the lay of the land but he didn't think-

The whole idea of somebody _else_ doing that to him sort of freaked him out.

Hence, the sudden retreat.

"Stay…you stay over…" he tried to spit out between gulps of air, trying to ignore the waves of humiliation that seemed to roll over him with merciless glee.

He should run now. Yes, it was probably running time.

Dustin just _barely_ heard the quiet sigh coming from the other side of the room over all the yelling that was going on inside his head. He quieted it down so he could listen to Hunter's declaration of hatred and the most assured challenge of fight to the death or something. Dustin was pretty sure that was what happened when you didn’t hold up your end of the deal.

Hunter didn’t come closer (which was good) and he didn’t start throwing lightning Dustin’s way (which was better). He just kind of reverted to what they were doing before the super-fun-make-out-time. The only sign that they even just _had_ super-fun-make-out-time was the slightly breathless tone the crimson ranger tried to calm him with.

"That's perfectly normal Dustin."

What was normal? The kissing part, or the running part? The running part didn't seem like something that happened all that often…ever. Like, that wasn’t even from TV or movies, that was just from using his eyes whenever he went places. People made out, and then they stopped, usually when they both agreed on it and not when one of them ran away like a little ninny.

Hunter kept talking; completely recovered from their _thing_ and sounding positive for a guy who just didn't…get some. Yeah, that was the term.

Dustin had often wondered what the "some" was.

He had heard it was “The Sex”, but Liv had refused to confirm that one for him.

"So, here's the good news," the blond began, happy tone contagious enough that even Dustin had to smile a little, even if he still refused to peak his head over the counter. "You're definitely attracted to guys."

But what if-

The question in his head spilled over into his mouth, blurting out unnecessarily loud. "What if it's just you?"

It probably wasn't a good question for his ego, because Hunter and Shane were pretty much duking it out all the time as it was. Dustin didn't want to give the crimson ranger any unnecessary ammunition, but he really did need to ask.

Thankfully Hunter let it slide, choosing to focus more on him. "Do you think it's just me?"

Did he?

Did…was Hunter the _only_ guy, ever, that he would ever want to-

No. He wasn't.

Dustin… it wasn't like he wanted to look at strangers and be like "yeah, I'd make out with him" but if…

He didn't want to think it, or say it, or _imagine_ it because it was…it was just so _huge_ and so-

If Cam…or Hunter, he'd…

He _liked_ them. He _really_ liked them. _Liked_ -liked, and… he would-

_No_.

Just that, _no_.

Because he _liked_ kissing Hunter, he did, but Dustin knew in a _heartbeat_ that he liked Cam better. If he had to choose…

He would pick Cam.

So he couldn’t just like kissing Hunter.

No, Hunter was not the exception.

"No," Dustin murmured finally, almost to himself but Hunter still caught it. The blond gave him a moment to let it all sink in. Though all that could be sunk had been sank for the day, and Dustin wasn't sure he could handle too terribly much more.

He liked guys. It felt like it changed things, it _did_ change things, but somehow he was still him.

He was still Dustin.

A silent truce was made, and Hunter finally vacated his old spot and made his way back beside Dustin, huddling down amidst the soapy waves.

"Okay," the crimson ranger began, cheerful and confident. "So there's definitely a physical attraction."

The sparky thing, yes, yes it was there.

"Now the second question is if there's an emotional one?"

Dustin actually understood what he meant, but Hunter continued on anyway, clarifying because he was a good teacher like that.

"Is there anyone who…makes you feel all warm inside?"

Dustin furrowed his brows, _now_ slightly confused. "Define warm."

He thought they covered the getting hot and sparky thing with the physical attraction, he didn't think there was any other way to get warm inside.

Hunter dutifully filled him in.

"Who do you want to spend time with most?" he asked, and Dustin nodded, finally getting it.

Playfully, with a crooked smile, Hunter added, "And subsequently wouldn't mind getting naked with."

Naked…with?

_Ah_ , the elusive “sex” thing again.

The brunette shoved his face into his hands as he gave an awkward cough, Hunter patting him on the back comfortingly in response, letting loose a small chuckle he just couldn't help. "Don't worry; you'll get there in time."

Dustin nodded, acknowledging he would while his mind moved on, pondering the question.

Spend time, warmth, best friends. The answer was kind of obvious.

_Cam_.

But also-

"…I like you," Dustin admitted, because he did. He did like hanging out with Hunter, he didn't make Dustin feel stupid (he actually made the yellow ranger feel cool) and once you got past the brooding he was really funny and nice.

It wasn’t a fair competition anyway, because Dustin spent _way_ more time with Cam than with Hunter. Maybe if he spent a couple hours a day with the blond he would like him just as much, know more of him, be _really_ good friends on top of kissing and the sexing and-

Or maybe not. Dustin wouldn’t know until he tried; he’d never _been_ attracted to a guy before, that he was aware of (and that was the key here wasn’t it, because he was great at pretending not to think or feel things he couldn’t understand, were too difficult to deal with), so what would he know?

There was this nagging feeling in the back of Dustin's head, there was something important, something he missed, something he _should_ be remembering right now but he just couldn’t-

Wait.

_Cam_.

The whole reason Hunter and Dustin had even first started talking about this whole mess was because Hunter had wanted to ask _Cam_ out. And while there was a lot of things Dustin should be thinking about that concerned Hunter like: why was he making out with Dustin if he wanted Cam; and did that only mean he did it to help, or was he a cheater or- but his brain immediately overrode all those things because did that mean Cam-?

The question tumbled out, no grace, no lead in, no nothing. "Cam likes guys?"

He was staring at Hunter intently, focused completely on him, itching to grip the other teen’s shoulders to shake him, but Dustin’s body remained frozen, _needing_ this answer.

Hunter picked up on it, hesitating only a little before saying, "Yes."

Just, ‘ _yes’._

Cam, Cam liked-

Dustin’s heart felt all…his chest- there was a warm feeling (Hunter was not joking it was really there) and Dustin-

He never felt happier.

He didn't know why. He didn't know-

_Cam likes guys_

But-

Hunter.

_Hunter_.

The brunette's mind slowly boiled down to a quiet echo, repeating the name over and over again until it overcame the warm feeling and mixed his stomach back into a knotted mess.

It wasn't a pleasant fact, but he couldn't deny it, not when it concerned his team.

Hunter came first.

Hunter wanted Cam first, which meant that maybe Cam wanted Hunter first and even though Dustin hadn't _known-_

Why did Hunter have to kiss him? Why did he have to talk to him and do stupid things like making him understand and opening his eyes to-

Why did he have to make Dustin feel so good inside, and then just as easily make him feel like the most terrible human being that had ever walked the planet?

Dustin thought he hadn't hoped, but clearly his stupid subconscious _had_ because he was feeling…empty. And sad. He liked Hunter and he liked Cam and Dustin _thought_ Hunter liked _him_ but it was a fact he liked _Cam_ and the only way this stupid mess could work out - but it wouldn’t because it was life and Dustin _knew_ lunacy _never_ worked out - was if Cam just happened to like both of them. Then they could be a happy trio and no one would be sad or crying.

Because if there had to be two, if someone had to be left out, that person would be Dustin. It had to be him because Hunter had figured everything out first. Hunter had decided what he wanted and set out to get it which was reasonable, but it didn’t leave any room for the extra guy on the side who just found out they were gay and had warm feelings for Cam. It wasn’t Hunter’s fault that Dustin would get left out, just like it wasn’t Hunter’s fault that he was cool and mysterious and a good kisser that snarked with Cam all the time. It wasn’t Hunter’s fault that he and Cam were just like every bantering couple in a romantic comedy that were so obviously made for each other.

There was no way Dustin could come between that. There was no way he could fight for Cam or Hunter because he _liked_ his friends and he wanted them to be happy and if that meant he didn’t get to be a part of what they had, then so be it.

He would be sad and yes, he would still be dreaming up that happy ending for all of them, where they could all be together. If there was anything Dustin was good at it was forcing his way into normal things and making them _not_ normal, because he was Dustin Brooks, yellow ranger, so obviously-

…so obviously _not_ normal.

And then it _really_ hit him.

" _Dude_ ," Dustin mumbled, eyes wide at the sudden realization. "That's perfect."

Hunter, who had been sitting and quietly watching his face go from happy/sad/thoughtful/enlightened perked up at the brunette’s vocalizations, happy for any kind of communication.

"What?"

"I like you _and_ I like Cam." Dustin explained, almost giddy (a manly giddy of _manliness_ ) and he looked at Hunter eagerly. "And clearly you like Cam and you- Wait, do you like-?"

Because clearly a lot of this was based on the assumption that if Hunter was down with making out with him he might actually like _him_ a little and-

The lips were back again, and Dustin almost kept talking but the hand was back in his hair so he just sighed into it, enjoying the attention.

Hunter pulled back slowly, eyes intent, and Dustin nodded slowly.

"Yeah, so you like me." That was _awesome_. "So, uh, if Cam likes both of us we could all totally date.”

It was a big step. It was a stupid one too, and there was a small voice in the back of Dustin’s head sounding suspiciously like Tori that kept telling him to slow down, to ease into it, to think about what was going on and accept and stop running into things full throttle without letting everything sink in properly but he just couldn’t. Not when everything was so crazy all of the time. This was a huge _thing_ for Dustin to deal with and he probably shouldn’t be trying to date people until the dust had settled and he had- time to get used to it, maybe? He should wait, but life was sort of passing him by here. Any day Lothor could decide he didn’t like Blue Bay Harbor so much and just blow it off the face of the world, so the way Dustin figured it; he had to take this opportunity while it was there. While he could.

It would be scary, dating people after he had thought it was a hopeless cause for so long, and it would probably be different because…well, _guys_ , but Dustin wanted it.

Maybe tomorrow he would be freaking out, but right now, he wanted it.

Hunter blinked at him slowly, trying to make sense of what he had just heard while simultaneously trying to cover it up. He started up again slowly, still gently stroking Dustin's hair. "I don't think you understand how dating works."

Oh no, no, not this guy. See, Dustin _thought_ he didn't know how dating worked, or he thought he _did_ know, and then Hunter filled him in with crazy things that actually weren't that crazy, so why should this be any different?

The yellow ranger didn’t back down, puffing up his chest slightly as he defended his argument. "No way man, you already like, blew my mind today." Blew it, blown it, it was gone. "And from what I've gathered…we're not normal people right? Most people don't train so they can be better at fighting evil space ninjas, so why should we date like normal not-fighters of evil space ninjas?"

_Yeah, suck on that logic popsicle why don't yah?_

He almost thought that Hunter was going to disagree with him, to insist that his way was right and Dustin was still way wrong, but instead the blond tilted his head and looked off to the side thoughtfully.

And just like that, Dustin knew he had won.

"I see no faults with this argument."

Because there weren’t any; his plan was faultless.

"See, see, it's awesome!" Dustin shouted, jumping up enthusiastically and pumping his fist into the air. "Now, all we have to do is go convince Cam that there is no way he can deny our totally hot studliness."

He couldn’t, there was no way this wouldn't work. Dustin already knew from past experience that if you tag-teamed Cam, certain victory was almost assuredly yours (as long as it didn't involve any of his computers/the zords/his uniform…okay, so there were a _few_ things he stood up against).

Excited and happy and delighted and a million other things (terrified, terrified was a great deal of those many other things), Dustin ran about the kitchen picking up all of the soaking towels and throwing them carelessly in the general direction of the sink before he dashed out of the room to grab his keys. He was back in the kitchen in less than ten seconds (new record without streaking) sliding towards his table in two, grabbing up his cell phone and wallet and quickly making his way towards the door.

Once his hand hit the doorknob he paused, glancing over his shoulder at the amused Hunter who was still standing beside the island.

“Hey,” he began, cheerful smile unabashedly bright on his face. “You ready to storm the castle?”

The grin Hunter gave him in response pretty much answered that question, not timid, not doubting, not in any way humoring, but a hundred percent on board with Dustin’s plan.

It was enough to let Dustin think this _just_ might work. Just possibly.


	18. Past the Point of No Return

Cam didn't reserve many expectations for the rest of his Wednesday. If executed properly, the plan for the day was fairly simple: finish Cyber Cam so he could finally sequester himself in his bedroom and take a much needed break, preferably one that involved a multitude of reading (dear God did he miss reading for leisure) and was completely devoid of any outside contact. Maybe after he had gorged himself on the books that were stacking up beside his bed, the articles he had bookmarked on his desktop and any irregular reading his computer alerted him from the security network he had been neglecting for a rather uncomfortable amount of time, he would finally cut the dramatics and get to the process of putting his head in order.

But before he could achieve _that_ seemingly far off pipe dream he needed to complete Cyber Cam.

Success was nearly imminent but naturally with perfection so close to Cam’s fingertips, just _barely_ avoiding his reach, the universe decided to intervene on cruel Lady Fate's behalf, dropping in a complication that would indubitably give all past complications an amateur appearance.

It figured that the instant he collected _some_ peace of mind that the world would want to rip it away.

The encounter remained innocent for perhaps the first three seconds, no different than any other interruption that was instigated by Dustin. The yellow-clad teen traipsed into Cam’s lab with his usual good cheer; not an atypical event in itself. It was an amusing discovery to see that the brunette was also soaked with what Cam deemed to be some kind of cleaning solution; evidence of this being his mildly agitated eyes (Cam would have to force the teen to undergo a thorough examination once he explained the reason for his surprise visit), the hair, partially wet and slicking itself to the sides of his head defying its naturally wild disposition, and the moderately dried clothes. To be honest, this appearance (and the lack of explanation for it) was not the least bit suspect either.

What _did_ set off warning bells in the back of Cam's mind was the uncustomary amount of gleeful anticipation that masked this… agitation that seemed to be brimming inside of Dustin, overwhelming him.

And then Dustin closed the distance between them completely, throwing his arms around his neck in what Cam thought was a traditional hug and finishing his greeting with a not-so-traditional, thoroughly unexplainable kiss.

There were no words to properly describe the haze of shock that enveloped Cam thereafter. Were it not for the undeniable sincerity of the yellow ranger’s actions and inimitable manner and disposition he displayed upon entrance, Cam would be willing to say that this was yet another one of Lothor's ploys, an imposter sent to capture him by utilizing the element of surprise. Crude, low, but incredibly effective.

Were that only the case.

After a few lengthy seconds in which Cam was completely nonresponsive, Dustin pulled back, confusion clear in his gaze. He studied Cam with a renewed intensity, as though if he were to stare hard enough his eyes would be gifted entrance into the workings of the tech’s mind.

It was unsettling, the examination and the action that preceded it, and Cam was ready to chalk it up to the other teen seeing the wrong movie or book or show at the wrong time and coming to the wrong idea when what was undoubtedly the real cause for this debacle strode through the door in a perfectly insouciant manner. Hunter stepped just within the lab’s threshold and leaned against the wall, eyes hooded with a level of casualness that should be criminal, considering the circumstances.

As raised as his hackles were (and as much as Dustin required his attention now), Cam could not stop the ill feeling that grew within him, nor the thoughts flittering through his mind. Despite all his precautions Cam had failed his mission. Perhaps Hunter was wise to him all along, perhaps this was a lesson to be taught, a reminder that Cam was but a novice in a game that the crimson ranger had mastered long ago, but whatever it was, whatever feelings he may have on that _now_ needed to be pushed aside.

First he needed to focus on Dustin; all other distractions could be dealt with later.

Dustin, who had decided to address his confusion.

"So…" the yellow ranger started, apprehension sneaking into what was once a confident demeanor. “You're not gay?"

Cam froze (or continued to freeze) and processed this; Dustin staring at him earnestly as he attempted to determine the causes that led the yellow ranger to these specific effects. From his position against the wall Hunter decided to let Cam determine this alone for a little while longer, quietly taking satisfaction in his very own private drama.

Cam wanted to hurt him more than anything else; involving Dustin like this, outing Cam like this, it wasn't his place. He had no right or authority to put either of them in this position and were Cam able to he would rip that smarmy grin off his face with his bare hands.

However, Hunter was not the issue here.

_Dustin_.

Hunter had outed him, but he had also…he’d had words with Dustin. Explained this, somehow. As Cam had not been present for the proceedings he was unaware to what extent, how it was ultimately concluded, which left him with a few precious seconds to reason what he could and set out from there.

Hunter was…hard. Weathered and brutal and well educated on the world’s cruelties, though in spite of this he actively tried to do better. He was fiercely loyal to his brother and to his Academy, usually straight forward and, despite what airs he may choose to present, held himself to a certain level of basic civility. For the team. He was hard, but he was not cruel.

And a part of him, if he really _was_ as nonchalant as he was playing this, was also decent. While his life had not been an easy one, he wanted to preserve what innocence and optimism he could. He would have gone easy on Dustin, but he would not have lied. That was not Hunter’s way.

It probably wasn’t a trick then, or a joke.

That didn’t make Cam any less angry but from what he knew, that had to be the truth.

It was the route Cam would have taken himself, easing the yellow ranger into the conversation to ensure that everything was properly interpreted. Through reluctance he had lost that chance and now he was left to fill in the blanks. For the moment he would play it safe; later he would discover the extent of the other teen’s revelations.

Plan in mind, Cam turned his focus to Dustin, eyes steady on his as he gave a brief but discernable nod, indicating that the other's assumptions were correct. Lying was not an option at this point, not about something so…personal.

Were their roles reversed, Dustin would never think of lying to him.

The reactions were…different, then Cam expected. Pleasure, for both of them that was clear, though Hunter's was greatly subdued when compared to Dustin's. The curly haired teen had lit up, brighter than Cam had ever seen him (and he had a great library of yellow ranger facial expressions he could reference from), bouncing happily in place as he threw himself into yet another hug, squeezing Cam firmly. Such excitement was infectious and Cam could not help but return the hold, avoiding Hunter's eyes as a feeling of contentment washed over him, involuntarily, his spirits raised.

And then came crashing down, just as quickly.

Dustin pulled his head back but kept his arms in place, refusing to evict himself from Cam's personal bubble as he began to shed some more light on the situation.

"Me too," he chirped excitedly. "Hunter helped me figure it out."

Of course he had.

_Stop it. Stop those thoughts **now**_.

He needed to focus.

Cam fought off the tension that threatened him, not wanting to give Dustin the wrong impression, and the crimson ranger finally broke his silence, stepping off of his wall.

"Dustin has a proposition," the blond explained, loose smile in place of his usual smirk, and Cam resisted the urge to test one of his many weapon experiments on him.

**_Stop_ ** _. It._

Anger would not aid him.

Unaware of the negative feelings raging within him, Dustin picked up the narative; only too happy to disclose his master plan.

"Well," the yellow ranger began, almost shyly, and Cam rubbed the other teen’s back in comfort, refusing to pay the blond beyond them any heed.

"I like you and Hunter." Of course he did, just like he liked Shane and Tori and Blake and- "And Hunter likes you and me."

_Because why settle for one when you could have both-_

**_Stop._ **

"And I figured…" the mechanic trailed off again and looked to the side, nervous, and Cam gently turned his face back, fully aware of where he was going but communicating his…not his approval, but his support.

He tried to support all of Dustin's ideas. Even the ones less assured to succeed.

"I figured…" Dustin continued, smile back and genuine. "That if you liked both of us, we could all date."

There was an earnestness there, an unadulterated and unequivocal sincerity, and Cam felt the heat flare up in his chest, temporarily isolating the two of them in the universe.

Such honesty and truthfulness had always been features that attracted Cam to Dustin; a fact he had refused to acknowledge before but seeing as today had been intended for straightening out his feelings _anyway_ he might as well recognize his desires.

But he should also, just for a _moment_ , consider once more the implications of the conversation he had not seen.

The plan was Dustin’s; Cam knew the other teen well enough to have figured that would be his option. But the fact that Hunter openly supported it, embraced the idea, that said something about him as well. Hunter was…perceptive of the difficult things in life, he understood burdens (as he had demonstrated during Cam’s trying morning after he had fallen “ill”). He tried to help where he could. But he perceived his limits to be quite small, so that his aid was only useful for extremes. Extreme lows, to be precise.

Something like connecting with someone…

The best Cam could figure was that Hunter, like the tech himself, had never been entirely serious about his romantic endeavors. Pursuing Cam had been a way to keep entertained, maybe even a generosity, but it wasn’t sincere. It couldn’t be, in Hunter’s opinion. But he could try.

And if he couldn’t be genuine with one he could just as easily be insincere with two. This way he was connected, engaged, but not under the entire focus of one person. Didn’t truly belong to someone else. It was more for him than he could have thought was possible. There was the barest of possibilities that Hunter was in this for the long haul, if not immediately, then as something to grow into. As though you could train yourself to be in a romantic relationship with someone.

Maybe.

Or maybe Hunter figured twice the guys equaled twice the action. Or maybe he was humoring Dustin. Who knew.

Dustin, on the other hand…

Dustin liked pizza and he liked racing and Shane and Tori and whatever conversation he had with Hunter made him realize he could _like_ Cam but to what end? How far?

He was sincere in his feelings for Cam - he wanted that - and perhaps Cam wasn’t giving the other teen nearly enough credit, but whatever sincerity and affection lay with him, apparently that _same_ affection was also doted on _Hunter_.

Cam would not be so dramatic as to say that broke something within him; it was a tiny fraction hiding in a forest of similar inflictions, but would admit it ached. It was not something he could ignore. The idea that Dustin held that same genuine fondness for Hunter… the same intensity… it hurt him. The inadequacy of it, like he alone could not satisfy, did not _mean_ enough to the yellow ranger to stand alone in his affections.

Hunter was detached, for him this was a passing fancy, an opportunity, but not entirely real. Not yet.

Cam was very much on the other end of the spectrum, so in the moment that it pained him; with this person standing in front of him that was capable of doing _this_ , of simply crushing him without a second thought.

He had never been the greatest for handling his feelings.

Never had he been more aware of this horribly true fact.

But he wanted…He just _wanted_ , for a second, before things fell to shambles like they inevitably would, to have this. To be here with Dustin like it _meant_ something.

So Cam, for once in his secluded life gave into temptation. He leaned forward and finally reciprocated the kiss from earlier. His fingers mingled through soapy hair, uniquely Dustin but entirely fitting, and the yellow ranger pulled against his chest again, eagerly responding in a manner that was too practiced and at ease with the exchange.

_Far_ too practiced.

That made Cam draw back (though he did it slowly, as to avoid raising alarm) and try to get his mind back to focusing on how to approach this situation. There must have been more to their conversation than mere “talking”.

"That a yes?" Dustin asked, giddy and enthusiastic, and Cam indulged himself once more, rubbing the side of the other teen’s face gently before turning his eyes to the real mastermind, stare going cold.

"If you don't mind Dustin," the tech began, steady voice hiding the anger slowly consuming him. "I need to have a private word with Hunter."

The happiness on the yellow ranger's face quickly turned to concern. Before he could begin to doubt himself, to come under the assumption he had done something wrong, Cam leaned forward and gave him another brief kiss (successfully comforting him while just as easily completing one of the actions Cam had desired to do for weeks).

And the fact that this might be it, this could be all Cam got…

"This has nothing to do with you," he lied, squeezing the other's hand. "We just have some catching up to do."

The yellow ranger hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded in acceptance, smiling at Hunter before leaving the room, probably off in search of Leonard's company. Alone at last, the green and crimson rangers turned to stare at each other, silence reigning over them.

Cam despised the occasions when he wasn’t completely sure of his footing, of what he should do. It was tempting, so very tempting to simply take Dustin’s offer, be grateful for what he got and never question it, but he couldn’t-

He _could not_ sit around and pretend a part of him didn’t ache at the idea of Dustin never truly being his. It was selfish, Cam knew, but he didn’t want to share the yellow ranger. He would rather be left out of the equation altogether than go on knowing he would only hold half of the other teen’s affections.

So Cam needed to know. He needed to be enlightened on whatever transpired that made Dustin want for this idea so badly.

"I know it wasn't my place," Hunter began, eyes turning to focus on the door. "But I'm not-"

The punch to Hunter's face was one of the most satisfying things Cam had done in weeks.

Probably because he shouldn’t have done it; an action so totally against all standard practices for dealing with inner team conflict but Cam couldn’t help but take great relish in the action, admiring the perfectly shocked expression on his Hunter’s face, somewhat leveling the playing field.

That had been all Cam intended; just one more temptation to give into, one more outburst of unreasonable emotions before he set his mind to work. He expected Hunter to glare at him, to pin him with a steely gaze and snarl out exclamations; was Cam mad? Why did you do that that? You could have just _said “no”._

Cam had not expected the crimson ranger to immediately go into battle mode and respond with a swifter, more staggering blow, but he probably should have.

It devolved rather quickly, and very unpleasantly. The moments Cam tried to speak reason, to defend himself, were not heeded.

Cam had been allowed his chance. He’d lost it. Now it was time to pay the price.

The blow to his head was followed by another one, seemingly aimed at his throat but he dodged it, just barely, forcing himself to ignore the grim expression of judgment on Hunter’s face, as though he had failed some great trial.

Cam got in a hit to the other teen’s stomach before Hunter really got serious, throwing a kick to the tech’s side that he managed to catch with his elbow, no doubt leaving a rather nasty bruise. Never had Cam been more appreciative for Shane's forced rest periods because now he was on top of his game, weaving and ducking and continuously remaining just one step ahead of Hunter, instead of struggling to catch up, as he would have been.

Minutes, hours, seconds passed, fleeting, and eventually Hunter was worn down enough that Cam managed to pin him in a simple hold, locking his hands behind his back with one hand while the other one kept a firm grip on his head, forcing the crimson ranger against the wall with a brutality he had never wanted to exercise. Not on a teammate. And yet, with adrenaline and anger and this…bitterness eating away inside, part of Cam called for it.

“Hunter,” he breathed quietly into the other teen’s ear. It was difficult to think of what to say, how to assuage the crimson ranger. “I need to know, what-”

But Hunter was never one for listening. Tired of being trapped he lashed out with one of his legs, distracting Cam just enough that he managed to wrench one of his arms free and elbowed the tech in the stomach, sending him crashing back into one of the metal tables.

He was on the tech before Cam had a chance to recover, and the green ranger barely moved his head out of harms way before a fist came smashing down beside him, leaving a sizeable dent in the table.

There would be no chances for discussion. Naturally.

Using his legs as leverage, Cam shoved Hunter off of the table, rolling off the other side to give them some distance. He needed to decide how he was going to end this; _how_ this could possibly end.

The look on Hunter's face communicated he was only getting started and lightning sparked, unbeatably fast. Cam barely had time to resister it before it was on him, in him, surrounding him; pulsing through his body with a casualness that beguiled its true nature. Flares of pain, large, originating in his chest coursed through the rest of his limbs before numbing him down completely, forcing him to collapse to the ground.

This had not been the first time he had been on the receiving end of one of the Thunder brother's attacks, though normally they were not to this degree of intensity; he had never been decommissioned by one before (not that he was now; recovery was imminent but it would take a few precious seconds). As Hunter made his way across the lab Cam took a moment to observe several sparking computer terminals, no doubt fried by such high unrestrained voltages of power in such a close proximity.

Hunter snapped him back (his mind helpfully informing him that a lack of focus was a symptom of being stunned) by returning the favor of a black eye Cam had given him earlier, the numbness just beginning to wear off long enough for Cam to feel the majority of the blow. Another hit, to his side, he could feel the ribs crack and through the haze of pain he forced himself to concentrate on defending that area. Cracked ribs healed slowly, but broken ribs were slower and had the potential to puncture a lung if the angle was right.

The crimson ranger had read his mind, pulling his fist back to target the same area, same intensity, same focus, and Cam desperately backhanded him, throwing his arm out clumsily with as much strength as he could muster, hitting its mark miraculously.

He wasn't the only one who was letting his emotions distract him.

Distraction.

Focus.

He needed to focus.

Hunter recovered before he did, pulling back to complete his target mission when a blur of yellow intervened, Dustin tackling him to the side, holding him back desperately, visibly upset and confused by what has transpired in his absence.

Not good.

Not good at all.

"Stop!" he pled, securing his grip on a thrashing Hunter, the blond barely registering his presence.

"Why are you…" he trailed off, frustrated to the point of tears (a vivid reminder of the numerous milestones the yellow ranger had already endured today, courtesy of Hunter, and Cam’s bitterness grew).

Hunter was gasping for air, nasty bruise beginning to color his throat an unpleasant shade of purple (Cam didn’t remember that, but it was _there_ , he must have-), but he worked through the pain, trying to delicately move Dustin out of the way.

"Stay… out of this."

Because he shouldn't have to see this. He shouldn't have to deal with the unsavory underbelly of team functionality.

But Dustin was stubborn and refused to be pushed aside, latching onto Hunter's arm with a viselike grip, arguing with him urgently. "You said he _liked_ you."

_Of course._ That made- _of course_. Hunter had told Dustin that, because for all appearances sake Cam _had_ , he had liked Hunter enough to make Dustin seem absolutely unappealing, but time had run out on his stupid plan. Was it worth it? Did his ploy ever stand a chance of success, or was it merely delaying the inevitable?

The inevitable that there really _was_ nothing to win. Not if Dustin…

By this point Hunter had figured him out and the hatred he had reserved for their initial run in returned, covering the growing sense of betrayal.

"Care to…explain…" the blond breathed, curling his bruised fist against his side.

Cam regained his feet slowly, ignoring the occasional twitch shuddering his hand as though they were caused by his own free will. He kept his eyes locked on Hunter's, communicating the bare truth of the matter in a deadened tone he had to use because were he to allow any emotion in he would be screaming, and he couldn't subject Dustin to that.

"This was never about you."

Cold hard facts.

Cam was ashamed of that. Ashamed he was so emotionally incompetent he had dragged another person down with how unskilled he was with relationships, but it was true.

Hunter had deserved to punch him, deserved to be angry.

_But Cam hated him too_.

It wasn’t fair, but he did.

Hunter understood, knuckles cracking suddenly.

"Yeah…" he whispered, blood dripping down his face. "I'm beginning to see that."

There was a rush of footsteps towards the door and a voice followed immediately, Blake's; concern outweighing his confusion.

"What's going on here?" he asked, hesitating momentarily, frozen looking back and forth between them. Eventually he gave into his brotherly duties and rushed over to Hunter's side, beginning a thorough look over (to categorize all wounds) and Dustin hesitantly stepped back, releasing the blond. His eyes wandered over to Cam's, sad and overwhelmed, and the green ranger opened his right arm out to his side, beckoning the teen over, naturally and without thinking, like he would have done any other day.

He was honestly surprised when the mechanic zeroed in on him like a bee to honey, clinging gently to his side while he lightly probed Cam's face, tracing the outline of his newly-acquired black eye.

"Is this a Lothor thing?" Blake asked the room (perhaps specifically Dustin).

"No," Hunter whispered, answering for Cam.

Dustin looked up sharply, glancing back and forth between them, just as shocked as Blake was when he understood the gravity of the situation.

They had instigated the fight of their own free will; there was no outside persuasion involved.

There were more footsteps, more shouting, and Shane and Tori entered the room quickly (Dustin must have set off the emergency signal, calling for everyone else to gather at his location), battle tense and prepared for anything.

"What happened?" Shane asked, trailing to a halt beside Cam and Dustin while Tori went to join Blake and Hunter on their side of the room. Dustin looked at him helplessly, panic somewhat dying down.

"I don't know," the yellow ranger confessed, words ringing so true and familiar they almost broke Cam's heart. He drew the brunette closer, attempting to bring some level of comfort. The action did not go unnoticed by the rest of the room, provoking several different reactions, but Hunter responded first, surging forward successfully a few paces before Tori and Blake caught up, holding fast onto his arms.

"I don't know what's worse," he spat, pulling against them. "The fact that you don't trust _me_ , or the fact that you don't trust _him_."

But _clearly_ that hadn’t been a wayward mindset to acquire, now had it? Not if Dustin- Dustin who wanted both of them, who Cam was only half a bounty to-

Hunter shook his head suddenly, halting his struggle and rocking back on his heels. "You know…I should have expected something like this from you," he laughed bitterly, simmering with rage. "I mean I knew you were paranoid but _this,_ " he laughed again, and Cam forced himself immobile. " _This_ is a whole new level of crazy."

Rich, coming from Hunter.

Or sorrowful, if it were true.

And Cam knew, despite how much he wished it otherwise, that it was.

Dustin, unaware of the circumstances that had instigated this mess, was not one to abandon his friends, regardless of the situation. He faithfully stepped in to defend Cam. "He's not crazy!"

It was more than obvious he was torn about the decision and Cam stood still, forcing himself not to sigh. There was no need to belabor his woes. He was already aware of them.

Hunter continued as though he hadn’t heard Dustin, eyes focused solely on Cam as he continued his tirade.

"Are you stupid?” he shouted, exasperation edging in on his tone. "If you had just _told_ me you loved him I would have backed off!"

Time halted for all of them momentarily, and Cam had to remind himself to breathe as he confirmed that the words that flew out of Hunter's mouth were indeed the one's he had thought he'd heard. He...Hunter had always been one to surprise him; he had never been able to get as strong a feel for him as he had the others, but even _that_ …

How could he have miscalculated the blond’s rage so badly? Cam had thought he felt betrayed, but in all appearances he was aggravated Cam hadn't…Was he mad Cam hadn't confided in him?

Love; that was…Cam was fond of Dustin, but love was…love was _love_ (his mind was too tired and addled to formulate a proper explanation to communicate the unlikelihood of that emotion).

It was _love_.

Cam couldn't be in love with Dustin; how would he even know what love _was_?

He was a scientist for God's sake.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered a feeling that could be described as panic building up and Cam fought to fill the empty space hanging about as the rest of the rangers stood there in shock, Dustin in particular.

"I…"

Thankfully Hunter continued on, barely registering his interjection.

"I'm not _that_ heartless," he growled bitterly. He was angry, upset that Cam would think so lowly of him. That whatever trust they’d had Cam shattered with his actions.

Cam still hadn’t said anything, hadn’t so much as looked at Dustin, though he could feel the other's gaze burning into the side of his face. He kept his hold on him, because nothing else had ever felt so right but he just couldn’t-

He needed to get his head in order.

He knew what he- _how_ he stood, what his stakes were, but that didn’t change the fact that _Dustin’s_ …

Hunter took it all in stride, jaw still set in a grim frown, and gave the two of them a judging look before turning his attention to the rest of the team, motioning them to follow his lead. "We should probably leave them alone now."

Shane was the last to leave, waiting patiently for the others to file out before he paused at the door, glancing over his shoulder. His face was unreadable, though his eyes… there was something to them, warning or betrayal, perhaps both, but it left before Cam could properly evaluate it. The red ranger exited the room quickly, leaving Cam and Dustin in absolute silence, ignoring the occasional sparking console.

Slowly, gradually, Cam turned his head, finally meeting the eyes that had begged his attention. He steeled himself, preparing to face one of the most difficult battles he would ever come to see.

The yellow ranger hesitated, but worked up his nerve, titling his head innocently.

"…You love me?"

Cam had no previous experience to reference from, had read no books pertaining to these specific circumstances and for the greater part of a month he had been desperately trying to avoid this matter for fear of rejection, team conflict, or destruction. But there was nowhere else to run. Now, he had to figure out where his heart truly lay.

And even if the results were not…they weren’t what he desired, at some point he needed to face them. It might as well be now.

Consequently, if he could manage this without shattering Dustin's spirit the rest of the team would probably be very much obliged.

Not the best circumstances, but Cam was a fighter.

And like all fighters before him, he would make due.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original draft of this chapter kind of had Cam going bloodthirty-pycho-pants on poor Hunter's face - past-Paisley trying way too hard not to be predictable. Anyway, this is the updated, more reasonableish-human version of Cam coming into play. I think we can all appreciate that.
> 
> Until next time :)


	19. Home (Reprise)

Dustin's day was turning out to be _way_ more difficult than he had previously anticipated. The bubble thing, yeah, who could predict that? Nobody, so that was an okay unforeseen-awful-thing, but then Hunter showed up and they talked and then they made out and _that_ was an awesome-unforeseen-thing.

And then they talked some more and Dustin got himself a boyfriend (which should have been a lot more weird than it actually was) and if he played his cards right he could end up with a second one (which meant _twice_ as much loving, and just the idea of Cam kinda-sorta wanting him in any way made his insides get all jittery and warm) and then he and Hunter went to storm Ninja Ops together.

Dustin thought everything was gravy, because Cam _did_ like him, but…

But then he was asked to leave, which scared him, because maybe Cam had doubts or maybe the tech really wanted Hunter more than he wanted Dustin or he didn't want Dustin _at all_ but he just couldn't think of the right way to say it.

Just like that Dustin's day was awful again, but only for all of two seconds because Cam was super smart and saw his like, anguish and kissed him and it was _better_ than any of the ones Hunter had given him (not that he'd ever tell the crimson ranger, because of that familiarity thing; he was more used to Cam-). It wasn't forceful; it was slow and gentle and it didn't seem like much compared to the Thunder ranger’s but something about it felt so-

Right.

It was better…better than anything.

His heart was all thud-y and his face felt hot and maybe he felt a little weak, and he almost thought Cam had made him sick or something and…

Maybe Cam needed to talk to Hunter alone because he was turning _him_ down or maybe he needed to set up a flow chart to explain how a three way relationship worked and he figured that stuff would pretty much go over Dustin's head anyway so he didn't want to bother him or-

Suddenly their moment alone didn't seem like such a bad thing, so Dustin was okay with leaving, giving Hunter a quick smile before going back to Ninja Ops’ main room. Leonard needed feeding anyway and Dustin hadn't taken the time to speak with him in awhile. It was a common fact that all frogs needed a decent amount of socializing if you wanted them to have a happy home environment.

And Dustin _always_ fought for a happy home environment.

He chatted away with Leonard happily for a few minutes (he really was a good listener and he _did_ listen - despite what Cam said - because whenever Dustin said something really happy or funny he would hop for joy, and no, it wasn't just a coincidence) before Dustin realized the frog might be hungry. He scrounged around Leonard's tank (usually he kept the crickets nearby) but then he remembered that Cam preferred to keep them in the lab. The yellow ranger was in the middle of deciding if he should raise them on their morphers to give them a heads up of his intrusion (he wasn't trying to be nosy; he really did want to feed Leonard) when he heard this…sparking noise.

See, he knew it was a sparking noise because he was very familiar with all the different noises that came out of Cam's lab, and _that_ one meant that there was lightning involved and-

Lightning rarely made for good things.

Dustin rushed forward, ignoring the fact he been banned so he could discover the cause of the noise. While his hand was reaching for the doorknob though, there were these other sounds like, the sparking was gone and instead there was-

First there was a crash, and then there was some thudding and slamming and then a little grunting and-

It almost sounded like they were having a fight or something, which didn't make sense because they were all cool and why would they do that if they were cool and-

Dustin pushed open the door quickly, praying that he had heard wrong, that this was all just some funny TV show Cam had really wanted to show Hunter or something like that but-

The lab was a mess, that was the first thing he saw; he didn't need to see anything else before he hit the panic button on his morpher, calling all the other rangers to his location. He had never used it before, never _had_ to use it (Blake had zoned out one time and hit it on accident, which lead to a really long lecture about the morphers and _all_ of their functions, courtesy of Cam), but he just didn't want to face whatever this was alone because what if it was Lothor, and what if they were both evil and he couldn't take them both on at once and-

They’d looked worse. Both of them were bruised and breathing heavy, and it wasn’t _bad_ but the fact that they were sparring now (and that was what it looked like, as though they had been sparring), against _each other_ , that did not lead to good things.

At first Dustin thought Hunter was the worst off, probably because his face was twisted into this horribly mean thing, but that was before he saw Cam.

Cam was…He was struggling, on his side, moving in spasms (which he shouldn't be doing because he was Cam and Cam shouldn't look like that) and fighting to get upright. Dustin didn’t think about it when he tackled Hunter aside and held him back, he just reacted. He couldn’t let the blond get near Cam and he couldn’t let them keep fighting and why, _why_ was this happening? Why was it when everything was finally going his way it all had to fall apart?

Hunter tried to get him to leave, but he couldn't, he just, _Cam_ , and-

They were so _mad_. He’d thought they were good. They’d told him they were golden.

Why did they lie to him?

Blake arrived first, making a bee line for Hunter and Dustin had to step away from the blond because he felt mildly betrayed. Maybe. He wasn’t sure who he was supposed to be mad at, he should probably wait for the explanations to start flying around before he started feeling things but he was just unsure of what to do next. So he went to Cam, because Cam fixed things and Cam made things right and being near Cam made things better, except when you were Hunter, but that didn’t apply right because he was _Dustin_ and-

They were biting out words, back and forth. As Tori and Shane trickled in they were still growling at each other and the anger was just _so_ bad that the words blended together, their lips were moving but none of it made sense, so Dustin just pressed himself against Cam's side, waiting for it to be over (his mind went back to his mom and dad before the divorce and he shivered, hoping the team wouldn’t break apart from this).

Dustin talked some too, but it was like his mouth was acting on its own because his head was still buzzing from all the hatred that was being thrown around. He didn’t know what to do. He tried to look at Shane for support but he was too busy and the yellow ranger couldn’t look at Cam because of all the anger and Tori and Blake look just as confused as he was and Hunter-

Hunter was backing off.

The thunder ninja pulled back, the tension leaving his shoulders. The anger didn’t really melt away but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it was before and finally, _finally_ the words start coming back.

They were both shocked…well, they were _all_ shocked, when the L-bomb was dropped, and Hunter just went on talking like it was an average everyday thing like discussing the weather or chatting about the stock market and all Dustin could do was freeze and run and re-run the last five seconds over and over in his mind while he tried desperately to make it add up because-

If Hunter knew that why had he-? Why hadn’t he _told_ Dustin? And how had he known and was it really true and-?

Was it _really_ true?

Did Cam… _love_ him? Did he? Or was he like, defending Dustin’s honor? He made Dustin leave and then he tried to beat the snot out of Hunter because he was jealous?

It wasn't- he couldn't really _love_ Dustin.

Love was…it was in movies and books and TV and that was it because you didn't really, couldn't really _love_ someone, it was too… _big_. The idea was- It was too good to be real. Something like that, someone who really cared about you and _wanted_ to be with you on a day-to-day basis, even through all the bad stuff, despite all your annoying habits and all _their_ annoying habits and-

It wasn't real. Dustin knew it wasn't real; his parents had shown him it wasn't real.

Love was a fairytale.

But Cam…

Dustin was so stupid.

He _wanted_ it, so _badly_ for Cam to just… _really_ love him. The yellow ranger was with Cam all the time, he liked being near the tech and making him smile or laugh and hugging him and Dustin hated when Cam was frustrated or grumpy or sad even though the other teen would never admit it and-

After what Hunter had shown him, after _earlier_ , Dustin wanted to kiss him. He wanted to kiss him and hold him and be in charge of making him smile _always_ and take him on dates, or if he didn't want to do that just…be _near_ him.

Was that love? Was that what it was like? Did Cam want that? With _him_?

Dustin wanted the answer to be yes, he wanted it to be true, he wanted it to be like all those movies and books and shows, but how could it be like that when-

He was stupid, he really was. Cam and Hunter and everyone else could try to deny it, but it was true; Dustin didn't even know what love was because about half an hour ago those were all the things he wanted to do with Hunter. So did he love Hunter too, or was he just really _that_ dumb?

Who was Dustin kidding; he was too stupid to know the difference between love and whatever he was feeling was. Why would a guy like Cam even _think_ about wasting time on him?

But Dustin _had_ to ask. He needed to know. He needed to make sense of the jumbled up mess of emotions that kept pounding against his skull, threatening to burst out and leave him in ragged shambles on the floor, and Cam always had an answer, Cam _always_ knew the answer and Dustin just-

He just needed to know. He needed to know if any of this made sense.

Hunter made the others leave, though Dustin couldn’t really look at them, his eyes were on Cam, Cam who might love him (maybe, if it was real, if it existed), Cam who could need him, but the tech kept looking away, staring at the far wall like it held some kind of unknown interest that Dustin only _wished_ he could have. It hurt, but it shouldn't. Cam had looked at lots of things that weren't him before, but each second that ticked by where he avoided Dustin's eyes was like another crack inside him, brittle and fierce and spreading and he wanted to sit down; he wanted to leave, he wanted to go home and hide away under his pillow fort until the world decided to stop being all topsy-turvy, but he _needed_ to know.

Cam's eyes finally came back, away from the wall and Dustin latched onto them like he was dying; like those two brown eyes were the only things keeping him from spontaneously combusting this very second.

It was a startling realization, when he finally got a good look at Cam's face, that he wasn't the only one treading in unknown water here. For once in their very short career as rangers together he and Cam were just as lost, just as desperate to find these answers that the rest of the team already seemed to have. And as _scary_ as it was to know they were all alone in this, Dustin couldn't help but smile, because they were alone _together_ , and if there was one thing he was ridiculously certain of, it was that together they could pretty much take down anything.

Even if it was something as unfamiliar as this.

Cam caught sight of his smile, confused by it, and Dustin decided to let him in on his secret, smile stretching so far that his cheeks began to ache.

"Dude, you don't know either."

The tech paused for a moment, startled by Dustin's amazingly awesome conclusion, and then he joined in on the merriment with a small smile of his own. Dustin beamed back at him brightly, clapping the side of his arm and soon they were both laughing, more from relief and desperation to abandon the icky film of negativity that'd been looming over them than from anything else. Eventually they collapsed against the side of the only table that did not hold sparking equipment, a detail Cam would probably spend the next three weeks complaining about, but right now they couldn’t possibly be concerned with such trivial things.

Dustin didn’t know what should happen next; none of the shows he'd watched had ever prepared him for this, but that didn’t strike him as badly as it had before. Because they were Power Rangers and why should they be like anything else? As nervous as he was, Dustin decided to tackle this as he would any other problem; he would just…explain it as best he could and let Cam organize his babble, storing it away all neat and tidy, labeling and categorizing it so that everything was in its proper place.

In a last minute decision Dustin fumbled for Cam's hand, embarrassed by how clumsily he grabbed at it, and the green ranger sensed his unease, just like he always did, and squeezed his fingers gently, tilting his head until it was resting against the side of Dustin's curls, like it was always supposed to be there.

Why hadn't they thought of doing something like this sooner? Seriously, hand holding might be like, restricted to eight year olds but Dustin was bringing it back, because this was far too good to ever not-do again.

If they got past this, of course. That was probably an important note.

He began slowly, not bothered by the bluntness of his words because Cam would figure it out; he always did.

"I don't know if I love you," he explained, rubbing his thumb across the other's wrist. "I don't really know what that is."

Cam hummed in appreciation or agreement (it could really go either way really) and Dustin kept going, so extremely glad they were on the same page.

"But I _do_ know," and he caught Cam's eyes because he needed them again. "That I _like_ you. And not just, 'oh isn't he nice to kill time with/watch movies with/eat lunch with', but the whole-" He motioned to Cam's body with his free hand, gesturing up and down. "-the whole shebang. You're smart and funny and I like spending time with you even when we don't talk because you're…" he trailed off, almost struggling, but then he found comfort in simplicity. "You."

"I thought that Hunter…" and Cam frowned at the name but Dustin just patted his arm calmingly. "That I wanted that with Hunter. I mean, I _did_ want that with Hunter because he had dibs he-” Dustin felt his face heat up as he thought about it, how he had forced himself in. “He wanted to date you.”

“I gathered as much,” Cam replied, voice calm and resolute.

Dustin swallowed, taking the nudge for what it was and moving on. “Well, he wanted you first and I couldn’t- I wasn’t going to come between that so I suggested-”

“All of us date.”

“Yes.” Dustin nodded, trying not to feel embarrassed by his old plan. “Because even if I was excited by the idea of dating Hunter, he’s not…”

He stopped, blinking suddenly in realization, finally adding up the pieces. "But he's not _you_. _You're_ you and I think…I think I like that better."

And his body liked that better because it was more than happy to supply that information to him before the whole throw-down began. Cam looked like he wanted to say something; his eyes got a little troubled, but Dustin had to keep going, he needed to lay down all his cards now because if he didn’t he couldn’t possibly go back to things as they were; he couldn’t possibly pretend this never happened if he didn’t give it his all _now_.

"I don't know what happened," he announced, looking pointedly at the ugly bruising forming around Cam's eye. "But I know that _this-_ " He squeezed Cam's hand, leaning gently into his side. "I like this."

Dustin paused and forced himself to keep his eyes steady, because this was where he really was going to put himself on the line. "And I think you like it too."

The green ranger didn’t hesitate anymore, he didn’t wait and he didn’t pause and Dustin had never been so glad in his life because as soon as the words were out of his mouth Cam was back, hand trailing across his cheek, into his hair, and that warm, slow, _better_ kiss completely rocked his world; stars and fireworks shooting themselves off in his mind, sending him to the moon and back.

Cam pulled away eventually (because stupidly enough, they needed air) but he was smiling when he did. As scared as they both were, Dustin knew then everything was going to turn out okay.

"I…" Cam started, and he was nervous too (and he shouldn't be, because in Dustin's book he was tops, there were no others; everything else was number two or lower).

"This shouldn't be this easy."

Dustin patted his arm again, sympathizing with the tech because if _he_ was freaking out in his whimsical, totally-awesome mind, Cam was definitely well into losing-his-marbles-land with all his technical, intelligent brain-workings. The green ranger continued looking mildly disturbed, probably shocked with how fast this was all happening.

Was it really happening now? Wasn't there supposed to be build up? Had there been build up and Dustin just missed it? There probably had.

"I uh…" the tech trailed off and cleared his throat quietly, something he usually did when he was talking about something that was really difficult for him, like it bought him time to gather his thoughts.

"Hunter," he began, finally figuring out where to start. "He…" Cam hesitated, and glanced over at Dustin. "He wanted to ask you out a couple of weeks ago."

Dustin blinked slowly, wondering how Cam knew about this before he did (which was kind of stupid because that thought pretty much answered itself). He didn’t interrupt though, and Cam kept going, squeezing his fingers. "I suggested he desist, but Hunter's…"

But Hunter's _Hunter_ and he was pretty much going to do what he wanted as long as it was within reason. Or if he was under an evil spell. But then that wasn’t really what _he_ wanted.

Cam swallowed and looked away, but Dustin couldn’t- wouldn’t- have that again, so he reached for the other teen’s face gently, pulling it back his way and the eyes were sad, guilty, like Cam thought he hurt him, and Dustin leaned forward before he could think about it, trying so hard to communicate all the things he sucked at saying through a kiss. He only pulled back marginally this time, so…happy, and Cam was brushing his cheek again, slowly, methodically, Cam-ly.

Reassured, the tech started back up.

"I planned to keep his interest occupied myself." His eyes flittered away again and Dustin, sick of the flightiness of it, decided to settle into the other teen’s lap. Because if he couldn’t have his eyes he'd take his body; why not go for broke anyway, right? Since Cam immediately relaxed before wrapping his arms around the yellow ranger, Dustin figured it was a good call.

"I didn't want him to get to you," Cam admitted.

The mechanic had to take a moment to translate what had just been said into normal-people speak. Even _then_ it took a few minutes more for the meaning to actually click in his mind, though Dustin wasn’t entirely sure how he was supposed to feel about it, except that the whole idea was so perfectly Cam he wanted to laugh.

So he did, freely, until he couldn’t go on anymore and he was gasping for breath, distracting his fingers by toying with the collar of Cam's shirt.

It shouldn't be…Should he be mad? Should he be mad that Cam flirted with Hunter so he wouldn't…?

But Dustin couldn’t, he just _couldn’t_ find it in him to have any kind of bad feeling towards the tech because there was this culmination of giddiness bubbling up inside him at the idea that Cam would go off and play the noble knight for him, defending his honor and virtue and battling all the monsters away.

For _him_. Cam did that for _him_ and it had to be legit because Cam wouldn't have trashed his lab if he hadn't been infuriated by the idea that Hunter-

Dustin should be the one who felt guilty, because he macked on Hunter, or he asked Hunter to kiss him and he didn't know, he didn't _think_ , because he never thought, and if he had known about this whole stupid gay thing he totally would have asked Cam out weeks ago because he-

Because Cam was home.

_This_ was home.

On paper Dustin might be required to write down that address in the suburbs as his place of residence, but it had stopped being home such a long time ago that he had thought he would never get that feeling back. He tried; he tried so hard when he met Shane, started spending time with him, to make the red ranger’s home his home. To get in with his sister and chat happily with his parents but Dustin…he couldn't make them warm up to him, not like Shane had. It was like they knew, like they were aware he was just a desperate hobo looking for a home and they tucked away all the best parts of themselves, reserving them for preferred customers, blood relatives and well established members of the community and no matter how hard Dustin tried he couldn't get past their walls.

_Vagabonds aren't wanted here,_ their eyes would say; masks of courtesy present out of pity.

He hadn't tried again with Tori, he couldn't even begin to fathom attempting with Hunter and Blake, his heart couldn't take it, but Cam…Dustin hadn't even noticed it, but when the sun got sucked away by the horizon and his house was abandoned in the quiet night, when mom was working, extended meetings _("Sorry honey, I'll be home late tonight"),_ the mechanic would find his way to Ninja Ops, to Cam, because even in the silence, even if it was dead quiet and they held their breath and turned off every machine and muted all items capable being muted, it was still better than that empty shell of a house.

Because Cam was here. And Cam was home.

Was that what love was?

If that was, if that was how it translated, that _thing_ , if that was it-

Dustin could handle that. He could understand that.

Maybe love wasn't as mythical as he thought.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, smile so wide that his cheeks would feel it tomorrow, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, because the world was his burrito, because he was okay, and _they_ were okay, and everything, _everything_ was going to be fine.

Cam looked confused (it was sweet, Dustin could say that now; he'd even go so far to say as it was cute, just because he could, just because it was true) and he happily explained, needing Cam to understand so that he could be as phenomenally happy as Dustin was.

"I'm sorry I made out with Hunter, I didn't-"

He didn’t get any warning before Cam's lips came back, eager, _better_ , and he just rode it out, following the tech’s rhythm for the next couple of minutes; a time-out with which he couldn't possibly be happier. If this was all it was going to take to get Cam-kisses then the brunette was going to mention Hunter _all_ the time.

The kisses slowly changed into lazy movements, gradually coming to a halt as both rangers finally realized how exhausted the events of the day had left them. They didn’t say anything for a while, they just sat in silence; Dustin listening to the steady beat of Cam's heart, fitting so well against the other teen’s body that this lap had to have been made exclusively for him.

Him, no one else, this was now a restricted area.

Dustin wasn't the greatest detective in the world (he knew from experience it was best to leave those kinds of things to anyone who wasn't him) but in hindsight…there had been signs. He had always wanted to be closer to Cam, to spend time with him, though at first he assumed that was because he hated being alone, after being exiled into isolation by his mother's promotion he just couldn't take it anymore, not after he got a taste of what real friendship was. He thought he was killing two birds with one stone because Cam had to be alone too right? Sure he had Sensei, but he was kind of hard to talk to, even if you _were_ a super genius, so Dustin had always jumped in to help fill the void, for both of them. That way Cam would never have to feel alone and Dustin could pretend that he wasn't slowly being torn apart by the fact he felt like trespasser in his own home, ducking through deserted rooms until he could make it to his bedroom sanctuary.

He always came running back, in the night, and Cam always let him, until…

Until, well… _this_.

Cam was running his fingers through the mechanic’s hair distractedly, mind probably still puzzling over something that Dustin had thought was over, but the yellow ranger gave him some slack, recognizing the fact that Cam wasn't immediately going to let go of his favorite pastime of overanalyzing things. Dustin poked him in the side to distract him, forcing Cam to move and take hold of the offending hand, tangling their fingers together with such delicate care it as if he was afraid that Dustin would shatter, that his hand would just crumble away and he would wake up, victim to a cruel dream.

Dustin loved the handholding but he hated the sorrow, so the yellow ranger pulled himself back up, staring Cam in the eye, remembering the one key thing he knew would totally assuage all of Cam's doubts, because Cam was a man of logic and intellect and he was a super boy scout who was always prepared for every situation because he planned all possible outcomes and supported these outcomes with facts.

So Dustin decided to give him a fact.

"Cam," he began, smiling at the other teen fondly. "Will you go out with me?"

It threw the tech for a loop (which was stupid because only the _entire_ conversation had been building up to this, yet mildly appropriate because Cam seemed to find a lot of things Dustin did surprising) and Dustin smiled bigger, waiting for him to say yes.

He liked kisses and all but it was nice to get a little verbal confirmation every now and then. You know, an indisputable fact for him to stow away for whenever he was doubting.

Cam seemed to get it, or see it, or just _knew it_ because he was Cam, and that nervousness went away, a stiff smile returning (Dustin should really get him some ice for his eye soon). He leaned his head forward, forehead touching Dustin's ( _Gah_ , it was so _nice_ , so…he and Shane could never make fun of those chick flicks ever again because this gooey stuff was really working for him, in fact he must now do more research just so he can figure out what _else_ they could do).

"Yes," the green ranger whispered.

Dustin beamed - super-beamed; fantastically, power-ranger-of-the-lion-zord beamed - and then he hugged Cam tightly, loving the fact that this guy, _his_ guy, his home was-

Was really his.

His, his, his, his, _his_ and nobody, _nobody_ else's. Dustin would have to make a sign, or a t-shirt, because no one was allowed to get that confused.

Cam was chuckling quietly at the sight (a happy chuckle, not funny chuckle), shaking his head a little as he repeated, "It shouldn't be this easy."

Dustin just smiled back at him in return, completely unapologetic.

"Life's easy Cam," he urged, burrowing his face into the other's neck. "It's just us that make it hard."

Cam scoffed but ruffled his hair fondly, Dustin humming in appreciation, wishing there was some way he could capture this moment in a bottle so he could store it away for later, for use on a rainy day. The hand slowly halted in his hair and Dustin frowned again, knowing that Cam was doing some more of that pesky _thinking_ (seriously, just enjoy a good thing for like, ten seconds).

Dustin was going to have his work cut out for him with this one.

"I…" Cam began, and the mechanic blinked up at him, ready to listen so he could totally smack down his arguments with his pure awesome.

Cam hesitated, but couldn’t fight off a smile at Dustin's expression, and he ran his thumb across the other's bottom lip, Dustin inhaling at the sensation. The tech paused, intrigued by the reaction, and Dustin pulled back, pouting at him, eyes warning that he wouldn’t be distracted.

Now…just to clarify. He wouldn’t be distracted _now_.

However, they were free to be distracted _later._

Cam laughed again, outright, no chuckle, and cleared his throat, pulling his hand away. "I don't…I don't know if I lov-"

Was that all?

Dustin relaxed, cutting him off with a wave of his hand. "We'll cross that bridge later. Right now the only L-word we need to focus on is 'like'."

And possibly ‘lick’, but that was something for another day.

Cam quirked an eyebrow at him, already getting back to his normal, Cam-y self, and Dustin smiled, patting the side of his face. "Anything else we'll just figure out later."

Because they had done so much today; in fact, they were probably the champions of Wednesday for now on just because of all the…emotions and fighting (for some of them) and bubble attacks (for the _other_ some of them) that had happened today.

This time Cam just nodded in agreement; not a resigned nod that he got whenever the rest of the team outvoted him on something (not that it happened often because, come on, who would want to go against the super genius of the team?), but a heartfelt, _‘I actually agree with you’_ nod and Dustin…

Dustin couldn't be happier.

He didn’t know how the rest of the day was going to go, or the week, or how the team would react, or Sensei, or how this would affect training and fighting Lothor but-

He couldn't possibly care.

He had found his home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy ending, HAPPY ENDING! Or something like that.
> 
> Next chapter - grumpy-pants Hunter. 
> 
> Until next time :)


	20. But the World Goes Round

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Language. Hunter gets mad.

You know what? You know _goddamn_ **_what_?**

Hunter had been, for lack of better word and to his continual astonishment, doing goddamn _amazing_ in the ways of inter-team relations. It might not seem like a lot but for him, it was something. Gargantuan leaps and bounds in the exercise of basic human dignity from one person to another. He tried; he’d demonstrated an impressive wealth of patience for him. And for the most part, he didn’t spite that fact. Mostly (entirely) because it had been for Dustin’s benefit and if there was one person on this stupid team that Hunter could _find_ pity for, it was Dustin. He was what Hunter wanted to be, in an individual. Not the lonesome, socially-incompetent part (even though Hunter sort of got that anyway- thank you Fate you cruel bitch), but because he was honest and hopeful and tried. He put forth _effort_ and people acknowledged that; they took that into account when dealing with him so they could avoid hurting his feelings, because he was a person you _cared_ about.

So Hunter didn’t feel bad about helping Dustin. He didn’t. Dustin had been deprived of knowledge and Hunter knew how frustrating it could be to be left out of a subject with which everyone else was already educated. It was frustrating. It left you with the same three of four options you had to keep exercising because you were ignorant to anything else.

Hunter didn’t like ignorance. He didn’t like confusion. Alleviating both of those things for Dustin (and, you know, getting to make out with him), those were not things he intended to feel bitter about.

There was a short list of _other_ thing he was most _definitely_ going to feel like shit about, but that was not one of them.

Maybe it sucked more because of the fall, from how _amazingly_ Hunter had been dealing with these people, his teammates.

The blond was willing to go so far as to say he had been doing outstanding even, for him, and then suddenly it was violently ripped from his fingers, realization dawning that he had been grasping at a stupid fool’s dream all along, and he was where he had always meant to be. Alone.

And Cam-

Fuck that guy. Seriously. _Fuck that guy_. Hunter didn’t need him. Hunter didn’t _need_ any of them. To be perfectly frank, in the stark reality of the world the only thing Hunter _needed_ to do was die, and even that was less of a necessity and more of an inevitability. He could argue he needed Blake (because he did; he needed Blake as he was the only foundation he had left in this sorry world), but at the end of the day, if the focus of his thinking was simply Hunter vs. the universe, the older Bradley knew he didn’t need anything.

He didn’t even need sanity, which was fortunate because what little he had seemed to be dwindling everyday with this stupid train of _bullshit_ he kept trying to delude himself was something far greater. Something _meaningful_.

But it wasn’t. Life was random and chaotic; there was no purpose. There was no fate. Just actions caused by imperfect humans bumbling around each other, concentrating on their own wounds and needs and blind to the fallout from their actions, the ever reaching effects to those just outside their range of vision.

Seemed like Hunter was perpetually trapped in that blind spot.

Whatever; this was a moronic exercise anyway. He was Hunter Bradley, and Hunter Bradley did not whine, he _goddamn_ _evaluated_. Thoughtfully. Then learned from his mistakes and moved on.

Because if he had to go through this nonsense he was going to _gain_ something from it.

He recognized, distantly, that taking Dustin up on his offer had been more of a last-ditch effort to instill _himself_ where he was not wanted, as opposed to it being for Dustin’s benefit. Because Hunter was not a dumb person; he was, in fact, very smart because one _needed_ to be very smart when you were suddenly made into a little orphan boy forced to play mother and father to a brother not-so-much younger than yourself. You had to be aware of _shit_ that could hurt you, because you needed to be strong. That was why Hunter made an effort to stay distanced from people. Because people, with or without the intention, had a way of easily destroying one another. _Especially_ if they were friends.

It was Hunter’s opinion that a friend could do far more damage to a person than any enemy could. That was what made them so much more dangerous.

Friendship: enter at your own risk. Stupidly paranoid, maybe, but also true.

Hunter was a smart person and he could see, even if he hadn’t wanted to at that exact moment, that things were going to end badly. Even if they shouldn’t, because these people were decent and _nice_ and _caring_ and surely, _surely_ they would tread carefully when it came to the feelings of their supposed “friends”.

Maybe he could have expected that from Tori or Shane, but Hunter should have fuckin’ _known_ what he was getting into when he was dealing with the most socially un-savy people on the team. Should have figured that out when he had to explain what _homosexuality_ was.

Which was…Was it awful of him to think that had been adorable? Because it had been. He didn’t want it to be because right now he was just the slightest bit _pissed_ at Dustin, but Hunter had to be real with himself; that had been freakin’ cute. And sad. Horribly sad. But easily corrected. And just that…one correction, it was enough to alter Dustin’s world view, make him see what Hunter had seen all along, that he had resolutely refused to acknowledge.

Because Cam and Dustin loved each other, a lot. Just those words alone felt terribly inadequate to describe what was going on there, and it wasn’t like Hunter particularly prided himself on understanding the intricacies of emotion, but he could see that much. Had seen that much, with his parents.

They loved each other but he had hoped - had deluded himself into thinking - maybe it was like family. Maybe they were the siblings they never had. Considering how overprotective Cam was of Dustin, it added up, Hunter could understand that. But he had been wrong. Because Cam’s outrage had been stronger than Shane’s, who practically _was_ Dustin’s brother, and Dustin had looked far too overjoyed about the possibility of Cam liking guys as opposed to say… _Hunter_ , who had been right there, all calm and suave and _nice_ , stupidly _nice_ , and educating him on the fine art of mouth-to-mouth interactions.

That had been the highlight of the afternoon, honestly. Something Hunter had to hold onto because the rest of it was so remarkably shitty.

He knew…he had known, if he was being honest, that he didn’t belong there. That what Dustin and Cam had was a sacred thing he shouldn’t be a part of. But that didn’t- It didn’t mean he hadn’t _wanted_ it, just a little, to have two people of his own. They were supposed to be _nice_ \- and maybe, hell, maybe he deserved all this, for being insincere and treading where he had never been wanted, but even with that disregarded there was a line that had been crossed.

Cam had used him (fuck that guy still, just a side note) to keep him away from Dustin (and the joke’s on him because Hunter _still_ got some; _suck it Cam_ ) and Dustin had dropped him like chopped liver the moment he recognized that as an option.

In a way, Hunter had brought it upon himself. He shouldn’t have gotten greedy. He shouldn’t have been generous. He shouldn’t have _dealt_ with these people.

But he had, and he was going to have to deal with that.

It wasn’t like he had lost much right? Aside from pride. He didn’t _actually_ have much invested in these two people.

But you know who did? And this was the part that Hunter could take mild satisfaction in because it was _glorious_ , and he would gladly admit how awful he was if he got to keep watching this entertainment, but really, it was the best.

Instead of Hunter making a big deal of things, as would be his right as the most afflicted party from this transgression, _Shane_ was being a peach and doing it _for_ him.

Oh, the red ranger wasn’t moping or anything. He wasn’t openly against it, treated Dustin and Cam just the same but clearly (and he brought this shit on himself and Hunter _reveled_ in it) his poor little world had been completely turned on its head.

See, Hunter had observed the others’ interactions. How their relationships worked, what they supplied and demanded from each other, how close they were, what made each connection tick. It had been confusing at the start; he honestly hadn't known what to make of it. See, on a cursory inspection what Shane had with Dustin looked a lot like what Hunter had with Blake, and he respected them for that. He tried not to…come between them. In fact that was why after Dustin turned him down, the beginning in a long line of failed attempts, Hunter had broached the subject of a relationship with Shane _first_. When they were trapped in that popcorn container and Shane had nowhere to hide, he asked him if Dustin was actually gay. At that point he figured if anyone knew it would be Shane. He asked _him_ and not Tori or Cam because Shane was Dustin's older brother.

If Hunter knew anything, it was that you had to provide the same courtesy to other older brothers as you would to yourself.

What he got was the same confused reaction he had partially been expecting, followed by a vehement _"no"_ that should have been the first in a long line of clues that indicated team relations were _not_ exactly as they seemed. There was a hesitancy there, behind the adamant denials of reality. Behind that raging front and the arguments that were based on nothing but fear of change, or refusing to accept what he viewed as impossible. It wasn’t an actual hesitation, but more like a disbelief of some kind. It was obvious that Shane's life was sheltered _just_ enough for him to never bother giving thought to the idea of homosexuality, neither in application to him or those around him. It just wasn't there.

Which was a little weird and incredibly, almost adorably naive.

Here they were, saviors of the universe, fighting and thriving in the down-and-dirty grit of the villainous underworld, and something like same-sex romance threw Shane for a complete loop.

…it was _brilliant_.

And so much, just _better_ than Dustin’s absolute lack of knowledge, because Shane knew it was a possibility, you know, for the rest of the world; he just didn’t think it would happen in his _team_.

And then it went and did, and everything he knew, everything he had though he was _so sure_ of had been ripped from his fingers, leaving him confused and hopeless and doubting.

Since Hunter could openly admit to being a cruel bastard, he could say that this reaction made his humiliation seem actually worth it. The fact that Shane had finally been knocked down a peg was something that, for him, had been a long time coming, ever since the popcorn container (okay, so not _that_ long of a time coming, but whatever), and seeing this vision actually be _realized_ as opposed to those mean little daydreams Hunter liked to play out in his head to pass time…

It was sweet. Very, very sweet.

Because while Hunter was mad, _pissed_ , he learned to accept some things. Like how he eventually got an apology from Cam, which Hunter should have demanded more from, rather than the quiet, whispered in-confidence _thing_ he received, but Hunter accepted it. Just like he accepted their relationship, and Blake and Tori's relationship, and the sky being blue and his parents being dead. He could only control the controllables; there was no point in getting worked up over the things beyond his reach. That didn't stop that hollow feeling in his stomach, maybe it was regret or sorrow or whatever it was normal people who were attuned with their feelings felt after they were rejected, but Hunter pushed it away. There wasn't any point in bemoaning his personal tragedies; there wasn't any point in obsessing over what had already happened.

If you spent your life looking over your shoulder, eventually you were going to run into something.

That wasn't Hunter's way, so he simply moved on.

…sort’ve.

He got it; he wasn’t exactly mastering the art of practicing what he preached, but he would get there, eventually.

But that, that was pretty much the opposite of what Shane was doing. See, Hunter had taken this rejection as an opportunity to get to know the red ranger better. Cam was occupied with Dustin, Blake and Tori were attached via hip, so that left Hunter alone and single with the only _other_ alone and single guy.

And he was angsting. _Oh_ , was Shane angsting.

Because the others were so busy with each other they didn't really notice it, not like Hunter - the shameless stalker-in-training - did. Shane was _trying_ to push past this, but like an itch he couldn't scratch he kept dwelling on it. He put up a front (and it was a pretty good one, Hunter had to give him that) but he was cracking at the edges, his structure was fracturing and soon there would be nothing but the remains of what was once a great leader.

This was how Hunter found a new little play toy to keep himself occupied.

Shane was hurting and confused so Hunter would just swoop in and _not_ rub his knowledge in the other teen’s face (even if he had called Dustin being gay; _he called that shit_ ), but be a _kind_ and _considerate_ teammate and help him out of his funk.

…okay, so he just wanted a front-row seat for this particular show, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t at least _pretend_ to help. Shane probably wouldn’t let him anywhere nearby if Hunter didn’t at least put up the appearance of one being helpful.

And Shane would be grumpy, because it was Hunter, and Shane would drag his feet, because he didn’t like change, and he would be _oh-so_ fun to play with and Hunter couldn’t wait because he needed something to occupy his time that wasn’t thinking about his life or dealing with his _own_ problems.

The way he figured it, at the very least he would gain a friend, and that was never bad for teamwork, right? Being friends?

Nope. No it was not.

Whether Shane wanted it or not Hunter was going to give him some tough love and hell, if all else failed, at least Hunter would be an appropriate person for Shane to unleash all that pent up frustration and anger he had been saving for a rainy day, as opposed to someone on the team who might not deserve it.

If there was something Hunter was painfully aware of now, it was that this was the best way he could serve the team. To be the unloading dock for all of their _bullshit_.

Dustin and Cam had made that plain enough.

No. No, no, _nope_ , no more of that. Hunter was done. He couldn’t say he had moved on if he hadn’t so no. No more. He was finished.

He didn’t care. He didn’t care. He didn’t care.

See this? This was Hunter’s not-caring face.

Look how frickin’ impressive it was.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Life had somehow gone from an easy stroll through the park to a wild ride in a hurricane, the winds shifting so fast that Shane never stood a chance of bracing himself for it, and as a result he was dazed and desperately searching for answers but knowing for the time being he would have to keep them to himself, stewing over it until a semblance of order was regained. He knew from experience that making any sort of decision after undergoing a severely emotional experience, this sudden shock, was the last thing he wanted to do.

He had to accept and adapt to circumstances as they were, and as much as he wanted to hit somebody, to yell, to interrogate until _someone_ gave him some answers, that would _not_ be the most productive way to handle the situation, in either the short or the long run. So Shane kept to his silence, walking out of the room in a cold daze; the anxiety that built up from the panicked call stubbornly refusing to dissipate, squeezing against his lungs in a manner that was somewhat of a blessing because then he had something to focus on, to hold his attention, to keep him from turning around when the others hit the main hall and breaching Dustin and Cam's privacy out of-

He didn't know.

He thought he knew, but he didn't. He thought he could see, that he knew his team, and even if he didn't he had eyes, he should have been able to pick up on any inconsistencies, anything like-

Shane was making this a big deal, he knew, bigger than it probably was, but he couldn’t help it.

With this…even after Hunter's casual confession in the popcorn container and the tense conversation that followed (the blond shouldn’t have been right, he was too damn _smarmy_ to be right) Shane still hadn't thought that Cam or Dustin could see guys like _that_. Or maybe it wasn't even guys, maybe it was just _each other_ , but somehow that was worse, because if their attention was strictly regulated to one another Shane _should_ have seen it.

But he missed it.

Because he never thought for one instant that this could be a possible outcome, and that wasn’t because he was a bigot, or narrow minded, he just-

It just never occurred to him, so he never looked for the signs.

He wasn’t sure if that was important, but since his mind was obviously stuck on this one little tidbit then it probably, you know, _was_.

It was obvious now; at least, for Cam it was obvious. For Dustin…Shane didn't want to think about that now, though a little voice in the back of his head would tell him that as much as Dustin loved each of them equally he had always held Cam a little above the rest of them, something Shane only mildly resented because he assumed Dustin had just been dazzled by the green ranger's intelligence, how greatly his personality differed from his own, the yin to his yang, but-

No, Shane didn't want to think about that now.

That had been two weeks ago. Two weeks and he was still reeling, though the rest of the team would never know it. He was the red ranger, and he would act like it.

It all flew by so quickly. Halloween, Cam's birthday (Dustin had taken control, decking out one of Ninja Ops’ rooms in so much green that even a leprechaun would've felt right at home, somehow managing to find a tiny top hat for Leonard) and now they were barreling their way through November and Shane had to spend his evenings running, jogging down blocks and through alleys until he was exhausted enough to fall asleep.

The frustrating part was that he shouldn't be the one freaking out, that should be _them_ , or at least Hunter (Shane had been just about ready to clean his clock himself whenever the crimson ranger finally explained _why_ Cam had picked a fight with him, though the only reason he could think to justify this was because Dustin was Shane’s best friend; he was supposed to look out for the curly-haired teen), though in Hunter’s defense, the older Thunder brother had taken everything that had happened fairly well.

_Aghh_ , Shane was so _mad_ but he didn't know why. Mostly it was aimed at Cam (he had managed to reserve the frustration for Hunter, and Dustin, as always, was in the free and clear as far as he was concerned), because he-

He thought they were friends, which was a stupid sounding thing that fourteen year old girls whined about, and Shane cringed when he thought it, but he’d thought they were past this, that they were _really_ good friends, like family. That was what the whole, sneak-out-at-night, mucho-hugging, make-sure-you-eat/bath/sleep thing was _supposed_ to be about and Cam went and missed the whole freaking _point_ which was absurdly Cam-like but still ridiculously _frustrating_. Shane was supposed to be his shoulder to lean on, because Cam wasn't unflappable, he wasn't superhuman, he had limits just like everybody else and while he was too proud to demonstrate these weaknesses to anyone on the team, Shane had thought _he_ had made it clear that it was okay to…to be vulnerable. Which sounded stupid and girly and he shouldn't care but he-

He just felt betrayed. Because apparently someone who _he_ considered a very close friend didn't feel that way and this was ridiculous; he shouldn't _care_ about this, he should just be happy for his friends, except-

Except he couldn’t, because his head refused to stop churning with all these thoughts.

_God_ , he was so mad at Cam.

It shouldn't _be_ that way. In all fairness Shane hadn't confided anything as major as sexual orientation or potential romantic interest to the tech but that was because he hadn't actually _had_ any news, nothing like that, to share. But Cam-

Why hadn’t Cam trusted him? Was he ashamed? Did he think that Shane wouldn't accept him (Well _geez,_ doesn’t that sound like some bad line straight out of a soap opera) for who he was, that he was against homosexuals in some way? Maybe it was because Shane wasn't particularly…welcoming to Hunter, who was the only member of their team open about his sexual orientation, but that wasn't because he was against gay people as a whole, he just didn’t like _Hunter_.

They were both leaders and they didn't always see eye to eye (and he was kind of a dick) and so what if Shane didn't always want to spend time with him, Cam shouldn't have thought-

What was he afraid of? Did he think Shane would press him if he came out, that he would find out he was interested in Dustin and…disown him from the team, or something? In order to protect his friend?

To be honest Shane wasn’t entirely sure _how_ he would have dealt with it, if Cam had expressed his interest in Dustin, though a little part of him admitted it was likely to be similar to how he treated Hunter.

_Damn_ ; he just kept thinking and thinking and Shane wanted to let it drop, he wanted to just let it go and _not_ think about it anymore, just accept it and move on with cold indifference but he couldn’t, he couldn’t because of all the sleepless nights, and he couldn’t because of Cam's trashed lab, and Dustin's panicked face, and Hunter's black eye, and he-

It just kept looping over and over and _over_ in his head and somehow it always came back to Cam.

Because Cam knew; Cam held the full deck of cards and he never told _anybody_. Cam played all the sides and Shane couldn't tell if he was supposed to feel relieved or violated, so he settled for frustrated and allowed that to simmer into something greater. Why did he flirt with Hunter anyway? Why would he go through all the trouble of keeping the blond from asking Dustin out when he could have reached a similar conclusion by just asking out the brunette himself? He _liked_ Dustin (clearly that was the case; he would not throw so many weeks of work down the drain for anything less) so why didn't he just…?

Did he not know? Was he truly that _unaware_ of his feelings? Was he really that disconnected to his emotions, that he couldn't even determine his own freaking preferences?

Was it really that difficult for Cam, Cam who could pretty much build anything given enough time and resources, to just figure out _"Hey, I think I want to keep seeing this person who makes me happy and perhaps make out with them sometimes too?"_

So…

Who was Shane kidding, of course it was hard. Of course it would be _much_ easier to go through with a highly convoluted plan that probably had no chance of success _ever,_ rather than to bare your soul to the world. Shane should know that; _he_ was the one who found Cam passed out over his keyboard, _he_ was the one who dragged the tech’s sorry ass to bed.

Cam really must have thought there was no way Dustin could love him (which was insane, now that the light had been flicked on and Shane could review all their memories with perfect clarity, though the shadows left a little something to be desired), so he just…he did what Shane would have done, if he could have done it. He protected Dustin, because he loved him and he would do anything to keep him out of harm’s way.

It was so bizarre, but it made sense, kind of. Dustin convincing Cam to pick up skateboarding (skateboarding, seriously, just so he could compete in Total Trek because Shane was too busy running around with his head up his butt) and calling the tech all the time, not just over morphers, to check up on him, and talk to him, and ask him questions about useless things that were completely irrelevant to both their lives, but Cam would stop, and Cam would make time, and he'd answer everything, like he knew, like he had visions of what Dustin wanted to know and he did his absolute best to research all the answers to these whim questions and Dustin would just nod and jot it down, like he really needed it (Shane had seen the journal, though some of the information tended to get lost in translation) and-

It was there, it was _blindingly_ there, how could they all miss it? How could Cam ever doubt it? Why did it make Shane feels so…?

So… _something_.

It was just different from what he had known and his brain wasn't adapting fast enough, that was all. Shane was just having a little trouble with the uptake. A few more days of watching Dustin and Cam drip gushing hearts of gooey adoration all over each other should kick his brain into gear nice and proper, and that should be enough of that.

But for now…

He wanted to scream. He wanted to hit something, anything, until his fists were bleeding and he couldn't feel his hands anymore. He needed to break something.

But that wasn't a leader thing to do…Leaders didn't lose their composure like that; they dealt with it, like Cam had dealt with it. Suffer in silence.

If that's really what he did.

… _damnit,_ why was he still bothered by these things that were ultimately irrelevant?

It didn't matter _how_ or _why_ Cam did what he did. Sure, there were principals somewhere in there that had been trampled all over, that had been stepped on, lines had been crossed, but it all added up to nothing _now_ , it was completely unimportant _now_ , because it didn't change the fact that somewhere along the line Cam had fallen in love with Dustin and Dustin had fallen in love with Cam and somehow Shane had been too busy trying to be the perfect leader that he didn't even see it happen.

It was destroying him, and he wasn't sure what to do. He didn't know who to talk to, because his first reaction would have been to go to Dustin, even if he didn't understand, even if it completely flew over his head he always made Shane feel better, he always helped, but he wasn't an option, and then Shane's second choice would have been Cam, because he always had a logical answer for…But he couldn't, and maybe he _never_ could have, not outside of a working problem and-

He couldn't go to Tori; she would see something in this, something that was all wrong, and he couldn't handle her-the weird way she looked at him sometimes, he couldn't handle that _and_ this and he doubted Blake could help and like he would _never_ turn to Hunter for this and Sensei-

So he would just have to keep it to himself, he would just have to push it so deep down he didn't even remember it was there anymore, and pretend it was gone, and then he could move on like everyone else had moved on and somehow find that balance the team had found before, before this had-

Before the world had gone and stood itself on its head.

Lothor had attacked a couple of times since…the beginning, and they had defeated everything he threw at them with relative ease (because seriously, trivia monster? Cam had that one in the bag), so their fighting was good, but the emotional side of it…

They were good. Heck, they might even be _better_ ; the only one who would really be hurting from all this was Hunter and he seemed to rebounding about as well as he usually did. Sure, there was a moderate amount of extra peeved thrown into his usual attitude (which Shane wasn’t all that upset about and _no,_ that had nothing to do with past conversations), but that was more from being led on than from actual heartbreak, and despite the fact he had been gunning for both Cam _and_ Dustin he seemed…at peace, nonchalant even.

It should be weird, but the guy had been forced evil against his will so many times that the odds of something like _this_ bothering him just wasn't an option anymore, there were bigger problems in the world for his attention.

It was odd, but it wasn't detrimental to the team, so Shane didn't really care.

Tori was completely supportive of it, not that Shane had expected any less from her. It was evident from their very brief meet up the morning after that she had been just as shocked about the…goings on as he had been. Still, she was happy, immeasurably glad about the whole affair. They had both been worried about Dustin, they couldn't help it; ever since they first met him they had declared themselves his protectors and had always feared he wouldn't be able to find someone who would appreciate him for all the quirky little features that made him, _him_. Neither of them doubted Cam would be able to do that, so Tori was golden, as far as this was concerned.

Blake…Blake seemed to posses the same apathy Hunter was capturing; he really didn't care either way, but for Tori's sake he seemed to vocalize some form of support (a wise decision) but at the end of the day, as long as their relationship didn't affect their work, it was irrelevant.

Shane had been anxious about Sensei's reaction to all this, if he would be…The man - guinea pig - was a ninja master but what if he was so old fashioned…?

They had never discussed that kind of thing in training.

But Sensei was Sensei and above all else, he loved his son, gay or not, and had warmly accepted Dustin's place in Cam's life, leaving them all a little heart-warmed with the exception of Shane, who only felt a little woozy, though he didn't know why because he had nothing to object to.

They were all good; Cam and Dustin the best of all, fumbling around these new boundaries, so indescribably happy…

There was a jealousy there, because Shane didn't have what they had, what Tori and Blake had. He was slowly getting pushed to the outside of his own team, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.

_Remember back when the most important thing in your life was nailing a Backside 180 heelflip?_

Yeah, those were good days.

Except they were also back before he met Dustin and Tori, so now they weren’t really as grand as he had remembered them to be.

They were empty, sad…purposeless.

Which was why Shane couldn’t mess this up. It wasn’t about perfection; he couldn't be, _Cam_ couldn't be, he just…wanted to do right by them, and subsequently Tori and Blake and Sensei and Hunter, he just wanted to do the right thing. And right now the right thing was doing exactly what he had done before, being the exact same person he was at training, during their free time, and during battle.

He had hung out a few times…with Cam-stin (Tori's idea, combining their names like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, though Dustin objected to the fact his name came second), and even though it hadn't been exactly as it was, because Shane had still been friends with Cam at that point and now they were back to a polite working relationship (he was starting to hate that word), it was still…it was fine. They kept Dustin between them and made good small talk. Shane still got Dustin to himself sometimes, when he watched him in the shop, or at the track, and he still got to sit by him during their Monday TV nights; everything was the same, so that distance, that invisible pull he kept feeling was really just imaginary, because it wasn't-

Shane needed to do something constructive, anything - training maybe. He had already finished his homework (he had begun managing his work a lot more effectively since those two started dating) and they had already finished training for the day so what…?

There was a series of rapid taps against his window, knuckles quickly drumming across the glass that pulled Shane out of his reverie, jolting him into action. He had just unhooked the latch when Hunter slid in, not waiting for permission, and deftly shut the windows up behind him, scoping out the room and plopping himself down at Shane's desk before the red ranger could object to it. Maybe his mind was working so fast that it took speed away from his body, pulling all his energy to keep the madhouse in his brain up and gleefully running. It wouldn't be far off base; Shane felt too tired to argue, especially before he heard the blond out, so he simply shrugged, sitting on the edge of his bed.

He was honestly surprised by the lack of face-rubbing that had been going down. Were their positions switched Shane would never have let Hunter hear the end of it, because he was _right_ and Shane was so ridiculously wrong, but for some odd reason the crimson ranger had been exercising a considerable amount of restraint. Perhaps he understood where Shane had been coming from, that he just hadn’t _seen…_

But that would mean that not only did he know Cam and Dustin better than Shane did, he was also familiar enough with the red ranger to predict and condition himself for his actions. Shane couldn’t handle that, didn’t like the idea of it, the cool clinical eye of it, so he shoved it to the back of his mind, hopefully to be forgotten.

Hunter, as always, was about eight moves ahead of him, leaping midway into a conversation they hadn't even started yet as he propped his feet up on his desk with a casualness that suggested he owned the place but was just too polite to mention it.

"You ready yet?" he asked, stretching his arms up languidly before folding them down and resting his head against them.

Shane rubbed a hand across his face in reply, unable to summon the energy to urge Hunter to get to the freaking point, to explain whatever it was that Shane was supposed to know.

Hunter translated his actions accordingly and gestured vaguely to his running shoes, discarded haphazardly at the foot of his bed.

"For jogging," he answered, all innocent, like he was supposed to be there, like they did this every night, and for once couldn't he just leave Shane alone, let him figure out his own issues, because that was what this had to be about, this wasn't just…this wasn't just bonding time for the sake of bonding time. Hunter had observed him enough to know that every night since Dustin and Cam had started dating Shane ran, ran until he was too exhausted to think straight because it was the only way he could manage to get some sleep. Hunter had to watch them because he couldn’t just befriend them. He had to know how the rest of the team ticked before he could allow himself to engage in basic interactions.

Shane glowered at him, tilting his head down until the image of Hunter was blurred. "I don't need company."

The crimson ranger shrugged indifferently, refusing to acknowledge the warning in his tone. He stared him in the eye, face completely impassive.

"Tough."

_Tough_ …he…he just wanted to- Was that it then? Was that how Hunter was going to approach things, just barge in and boss him into- just force his way into Shane's life because they were the only single people left on the team, because Hunter didn't have anyone else to bother anymore? Did he get a kick out of this, did he-?

Shane hadn't realized his fists had begun shaking, quivering with this…unequivocal rage and he stopped them quickly, flattening them against his thighs. When he looked back at Hunter, the blond was studying him with this searching expression, reading him, gauging-

Somehow, Shane relaxed, tilting his head in thought. Hunter _was_ pushing him, but not for kicks. Well, for minimal kicks, probably. He was a multi-tasker, but that wasn’t his main goal.

He was checking up on Shane, holding him together, or, if he couldn't, providing him with an outlet for his anger because it was okay if Shane hit Hunter, because Shane wouldn't feel bad about it later, and Hunter was more concerned with the team dynamic than his own well being.

It was a startling realization, when Shane finally put it together.

Hunter, in his own weird way, was doing the exact same thing Shane had been doing for Cam. He was keeping Shane in line because he was the only one at this point who _could_ ; he was the other red guy, so he knew all the stresses that came with this job.

Shane wasn't sure if he should be touched by the sentiment or aggravated about the invasion of privacy.

Briefly, he wondered if Cam had approached a similar dilemma.

He swallowed, rediscovering his voice as the thought settled over him.

"Just let me get my shoes," he murmured, reaching blindly for the footwear.

Hunter nodded slowly, taking it all in, and Shane tied up his laces, mind steadily unwinding, settling down quietly.

He didn't have to…to talk to Hunter, or unload on him, but he could, he _would_ take advantage of this opportunity, because he was broken, a little, he could see that, and he needed to be fixed and while Hunter wasn't _ideal_ (was probably taking perverse glee in this because that’s what he did), Shane would take what he could get.

It would work out in the long run; Cam had shown him that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	21. It's Delovely

Hunter was _not_ rated very high on Dustin's list-of-awesome at the moment.  Which wasn't fair because on a normal day Hunter would be like, number three…or tied for number three, because Dustin really sucked at ranking things and just had a tendency to tie the people/things/places he liked the most because he hated the idea of playing favorites. Okay, forget the whole rating thing. All that mattered was that right _now_ , Dustin was not a happy camper as far as certain blond-haired, tall, gangly guys were concerned.

See, Hunter had gone and...okay, he’d helped Dustin out, and Dustin was cool with that, he appreciated that, but _then_ he had gone and made Cam so mad that they waged an epic battle down in the lab, resulting in the destruction of most, if not _all,_ of Cam's equipment. So now instead of being able to spend happy-make-out-bonding time with _Dustin_ , the green ranger had to spend a majority of his spare time fixing up _that_ mess.

And Dustin got that, he really did. He understood its importance (it was Cam's Bat Lair and it needed to be in top running condition or their zords were likely to crash into each other and that would be all kinds of awful), he just…was it so wrong to want to spend time with his awesomesauce boyfriend? Was it a crime to want some snuggle time? Would it so wound the fabric of reality if they got to…you know, do what normal couples do, saving the world from Evil Space Ninja's aside?

It wasn't like it had been that big a problem at first, because Dustin was pretty much a pro at cleaning Cam's lab by this point, but _unlike_ all those other times there were actually sparking/fizzing/flaming things that weren't always so…visible, and after he had gotten Cam to reluctantly agree to his help on the condition Dustin would be _especially_ careful it was kind of embarrassing to burn his hand about five seconds later on a octagon shaped thing that wasn't even smoking. Yeah, _after_ Cam had mothered over him and Dustin got him to “kiss it better”, he was banned from the lab.

Banned, _completely_.

Like, no standing to the side, or hovering behind Cam, or standing in the doorway or even the hallway and shouting out encouraging things to him…Dustin was _banned_ , super banned, completely banned, and the yellow ranger was surprised Cam hadn't thrown him out of Ninja Ops altogether. All Dustin could do was hover around Leonard and drag Cam away at mealtimes (because Cam wouldn't remember stupid things like _eating_ when there was work to be done, and Dustin preferred his boyfriend be able to function and, you know, _survive_ ) and even _that_ had taken strenuous negotiation.

Fortunately, Dustin took this as an opportunity to learn how to properly manage his time, making those meal breaks count, and Cam (who Dustin knew was facing the same aggravations in regards to the whole no-time thing) was onboard for this. This was how they came to snuggly-food time. It wasn't much different from any other time they had ever eaten together, seeing as Dustin had snuggled up to Cam whenever he wanted, wherever he wanted, in whatever location he wanted, without any complaints from the tech pre-relationship (which was _probably_ another sign that Dustin should have picked up awhile ago). It was just _now_ he could do it closer, or sit on his lap, and touch him whenever he wanted, and Cam always returned the favor, until they sometimes forgot about the food and things escalated into happy make-out time, which Dustin was _always_ game for. The only downside was that he'd feel bad if Cam didn't get enough to eat, so he usually tried to avoid things getting that far. Not that he was always successful.

Hey, was it his fault Cam was like, so delicious?

No, no it was not.

Hunter-related grumbles aside, things with Cam were going along smoothly. Like, Cam still had these moments where he looked at Dustin like he couldn't believe it was happening (even thought it'd _been_ happening for like, two weeks now), but Dustin just kept with it, staying with him every step of the way, doing all the things they normally did except with the added bonus of getting to feel each other up occasionally. It was like there was this wall there that Cam had built up, because he was so alone and he didn't want anyone to hurt him, like he was afraid that if they got inside they would destroy him. Dustin had just been slowly pulling that wall apart, brick by brick, getting an even closer look at the Cam he thought he already knew, and Dustin didn't even know why he was hiding himself because he was so _awesome_.

Like, the way he ate stuff, and the way he studied everything, and the weird way he had to keep every towel hanging on a rack in perfect alignment (which was an obsessive kind of endearing), and this little smile he would get that was better than his smirk because it communicated _so_ much more happiness than Dustin's biggest smile ever could, and he was just…awesome.

Dustin still couldn't decide how he felt about the walls, because he was sad that it took _this_ to get to see the real Cam but he was so…ridiculously pleased that nobody else got to peak in. Like this Cam was especially reserved for Dustin and he got a little choked up just thinking about it, and he liked the tech all the more. Heck, if anyone should be doubtful in this relationship, it should be Dustin, because Cam was too amazing a person to settle on him. Sometimes _he_ couldn't believe what was going on, though Cam's sixth sense seemed to kick in any time he was anywhere near doubtful, even when they weren't in the same room and he just waltzes in and fixes everything, like he always did; like he probably always would (though Dustin would never do him the disservice of telling him that because he shouldn't have to feel the weight of that responsibility when he was already running himself into the ground with the stuff that he was doing _now_ ).

-:-:-:-:-:-

It took Dustin a full week before he gave into his desire to stay overnight with Cam. Ever since the whole Cam-getting-sick thing, though the tech had finally revealed that he _hadn't_ actually been sick at all; he was just spazzing out, which made everything that followed that event incredibly more hilarious (even if Cam didn't think so). He just glared at Dustin as the brunette spent the following five minutes in a fit of laughter. Well, ever since _then_ Dustin had wanted to…sleep with Cam. Not like, the dirty way or anything, but just, being near him, _with_ him had been nice. But now they were totally dating and it was okay, and it wasn't like his mom would ever notice anyway, and Liv wouldn't be back for Thanksgiving break for awhile, so Dustin wanted to…cuddle. He really, _really_ wanted to cuddle.

He had decided that the best way to approach this would be to leave Cam no room for argument.

Basically, he snuck in while his boyfriend was showering and made himself comfortable, pretending he had been there the entire time while catching up on his reading. Cam's initial reaction had been…different, than what Dustin’d, had expected (and he had expected a lot of opposition on the basis of Cam's hatred towards all things that even remotely resembled surprises). Yes, he had been shocked, but then Dustin thought he would move on to like, slightly annoyed that Dustin didn't run it by him first, or think he _couldn't_ run it by him first, or he would shake his head fondly, or he would tell him to get out, but instead he just…stood there. Just confused for like, half a second but Dustin saw it, and then just frozen, face stony but posture all…like he was getting ready to fight one of Lothor's monsters or some other great problem that needed his entire focus which wasn't even _kind've_ what Dustin had been going for and-

He left, quickly, smiling and waving like he had just been there to say goodnight and was totally _not_ in his pajamas and then he turned tail and ran, streaking out of the room as though he were running out of a fire, heart heavy and berating himself for such a stupid move. Sure, he was dating Cam but the guy was shaky enough as it was, and why did he think he could spring this on him and _not_ have that kind of reaction? Maybe it wasn't that, maybe he wasn't surprised, he just didn't want Dustin _there_ , because he needed some space, he needed some alone time, and Dustin could understand that or-no, he really couldn't, because alone time _sucked_ , but if Cam needed it…

He barely got down the hall before Cam caught up to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back into a hug, and Dustin totally _did_ _not_ sniffle because there wasn't a problem, they were fine and he shouldn't be upset, and he tried to tell Cam this, he tried to explain that they were fine, and he kept smiling, but the tech just dragged him back into his room, pulling him into bed and holding him, running his hands through Dustin's curls until he was semi-calmed down.

They didn't talk about it, and Dustin was grateful for that because he felt like a first class doofus for being upset and for coming up with this stupid idea in the first place, but part of him desperately begged to know _why?_

Why that reaction?

Cam wasn't there when he woke up (Dustin risked setting off the floor sensors to peek into the lab, and he was there, dutifully repairing things) and the yellow ranger obediently exiled himself, only showing back up after school and work, food in tow.

He didn't go back that night, because it had been an awful idea that they were just going to have to gloss over for now, because Cam was nice like that, but _then_ the tech sent him these ridiculously mixed signals by showing up at _his_ house, popping in through his window hours after his mom had gone to bed and settling himself in as easy as he pleased. Dustin was grateful, ridiculously so, because somehow Cam in his room made everything seem so incredibly real, and he was beyond happy.

But he just…he wanted some verbal communication, because this communicating telepathically thing wasn't working for him and he preferred it when they were both on the same page. Confusing things were never fun (and he knew he was going to have to suck it up if he was going to keep doing this dating thing because relationships were nothing _but_ that) and Dustin just wanted them to be clear. He lived by honesty, and he didn't want to force Cam into doing something he didn't want to anymore than Cam wanted him to be hurt. It was a vicious cycle, and eventually they were going to have to learn to work their way around it.

They did a lot of talking because of this, and Dustin thought Cam would be mad or at least _aggravated_ that he had to take the time out to explain things to him, but it was kind've just the opposite. It was like Cam relaxed every time he got something off of his chest, like a weight was lifted from his shoulders and Dustin would be _that_ much closer to breaching the walls of his castle.

It turned out he had reacted so badly because Shane had been taking care of him, making him eat and sleep and not break and Cam had thought Dustin was just taking over the job because Shane had told him to, as opposed to _wanting_ to be there.

Which was absolute Bubkis, and Dustin told him as much. And then he told Cam with kisses, because actions were better than words, right?

Of course, in turn Dustin had to explain a few of his quirks. Why being alone bothered him so much (it came as somewhat of a surprise when he found out that Cam didn't know about his parents’ divorce), the grizzly details of his social failures in junior high and high school, bullies…stuff he hadn't even really told Shane or Tori. Dustin came to wonder how they could have thought they didn’t go together, because with every new thing he learned about Cam made him see how well they just…clicked. They understood the loneliness and one another better than anyone else in the world ever could, it was like-

Dustin was afraid to say love, because he was known to twist definitions around and he would hate to abuse such a huge important thing like love but…this had to be pretty close, at least. This had to be almost there.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The maybe/almost-love thing was why Dustin wasn't afraid to ask Cam about anything, anything at all, which was why on one particular dinner break, about two weeks after the initial bed-sneaking incident, Dustin had finally worked up the nerve to ask Cam about the dirty details of plan _"Distract-Hunter-from-Dustin-by-being-a-flirty-McFlirterson"_. Before this point it had been deemed as too touchy a subject to approach, but Dustin had the feeling they were pretty much unstoppable after the whole bed-fiasco (they alternated nights now, except on weekends when Dustin always stayed at the Ops), and he knew in his heart of hearts there had to be _some_ kind of hysterical story in there. The trick was getting Cam to fess up to it while keeping a smile on his face, which would probably involve Dustin's lips revisiting a particular vacation spot on Cam's neck.

"We didn't actually get that far," the green ranger finally admitted halfway through one of Dustin's more successful rendezvous on his neck. The yellow ranger pulled his head back, pout that was totally not-a-pout because that was unmanly but _was_ -a-pout because it was a super interrogation technique, and Cam sighed and attempted to distract him by returning the favor (which Dustin contemplated allowing because Cam was a Samurai master of all things neck related) but Dustin pulled back, pouting (but not-pouting) further.

"There _has_ to be something," he complained, tracing a finger along the skin just above the other's the waist, provoking a quick inhale (he had actually discovered _that_ turn-on long before they were dating; he’d spilt something on Cam and was trying to help clean up, though he was inevitably shooed away after accidently arousing him, not that he knew it was possible at the time).

Cam frowned and grabbed his hand, pulling it away, but before Dustin could get any bad feelings about it the tech tangled their fingers, letting him know they were still okay. Dustin smiled, resting his head against the other's shoulder while he squeezed Cam's hand, grinning in self-satisfaction at how quickly he was picking this body language stuff up.

Despite the fact he’s doing very little sexing, his look of content brought Cam some kind of gratification, so he sighed again and he toyed with a few of Dustin's curls, acting like he _wasn't_ just delaying the inevitable. Which he totally was, but Dustin was nice enough to let him have this one.

"We had a dinner that could easily exemplify the definition of terrible," the tech gradually admitted, and Dustin perked up immediately, leaning in to eagerly lap up every detail. He probably shouldn't be this happy to hear about a disaster date, because while he hadn't been a participant it was still _Cam_ , and he hated the idea of his tech being all socially awkward without being able to _do_ anything about it. He couldn't say this though, because then Cam would have the _real_ frowny face he got whenever he thought someone was coddling him.

Cam continued, rolling his eyes at the yellow ranger's enthusiasm.

"He attempted…" he trailed off, and Dustin leaned forward some more, pressing against the tech's cheek, earning a small laugh and encouraging him enough to continue, "To…I believe in your words to 'feel me up'."

Dustin pulled back immediately, halfway to mad (there was a certain crimson ranger who needed a particular kind of smack down _right now_ ) but immediately pulled a 180 when he heard Cam genuinely laugh. He couldn't help but join in too (he was beginning to understand why Cam had gone and trashed his lab now) and he settled back down, cozying back up to the tech.

"Did you let him have it?" he asked, peaking up just as Cam was looking down, and they had to take a small time out from the conversation to address those things that needed to be addressed whenever their faces just _happened_ to be that close to each other. He smiled as he pulled back, Cam rubbing the side of his face (the tech was like, obsessed with his head; he was always messing with his hair and his face and it _always_ led to win).

"No," he explained, and Dustin did a mental happy dance. "I properly defended myself."

"Potato salad?" Dustin asked, mind going back to the time he and Cam had shared an incredibly eventful dinner that just _happened_ to coincide with a few of Cam's experiments deciding to go haywire, and he must stress that his presence had _nothing to do with it_ , at all, and the green ranger had silenced the rioting hardware with his mad potato salad skills. Since that day Dustin has always kept some on standby; he had hidden a container in the back of the fridge…which he should probably check to see if it had expired.

Cam laughed some more and Dustin felt bubbly, snuggling deeper into him, feeling the echoed reverberations under his ear.

"Barbeque sauce," he replied, voice smirked-up, and Dustin doesn't even bother looking when he offers up his hand for a high five, Cam returning the gesture with familiar ease.

It had gotten off to a rocky start, but they were getting the hang of it, slowly, gradually. It wasn't perfect, it would never be perfect; they were both far too socially starved to be able to fit "normal" relationship standards, though perhaps that was what made them work so…awesomely. They were just two guys that happened to save the world from time to time, two guys who were complete opposites that’d discovered the answer to all that was lacking with themselves were each other. They were probably a little too needy, and overactive, and inexperienced, but for the moment, they found a way to make it work.

And for the moment, it was lovely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Hunter-related grumbles aside,” was a transition suggested by the real vampire, so that segue is thanks to her.
> 
> Until next time :)


	22. What You Own

Whether the zombie-like, going-through-the-motions thing was better than the sitting-around-and-moping thing Hunter wasn't really sure, but being active always made _him_ feel better so he took some consolation in that, and ignored the glazed look in Shane's eyes. Okay, so the skater was still dwelling on whatever he had been dwelling on before Hunter barged in on him, which was kind of the opposite of what this entire escapade was supposed to achieve, so not everything was going as smoothly as Hunter had hoped it would.

He frowned in thought, trying to figure out a way to move Shane past the ticking in his brain because if the guy started thinking any louder _Hunter_ was going to start getting a headache from all the secondhand thought processes. The running should have helped him but it didn't (Shane being _stubborn_? How _inconceivable_ ), and even as their feet rhythmically pounded against the pavement just before it transitioned into grass, Shane wasn't nearly distracted enough.

Hunter didn't know what to make of this entire situation; shouldn't Shane be getting tired at some point? Shouldn't there be like, a thinking limit?

It was a cruel thought to have, he shouldn't judge how other people adapt, especially Shane, but shouldn't he…?

Hunter was just tired of watching him hurt himself needlessly (because even _he_ had limits to watching the misery of others, alright?), and he couldn't ever put in words (words that Shane would actually _listen_ to) that he understood what the red ranger was going through, that he knew how to get past this.

That he wasn't by himself.

You know, even if the ‘other’ standing with him just _happened_ to be a mild psychopath, he wasn’t alone. That should at least count for _half_ of a something.

But Shane had his pride and Hunter had his monumental difficulties with communicating, so they would both just have to sit back and suffer.

That was, until Hunter could think of a better option.

They were jogging down one of the less traveled jogging paths (and he was being very generous with the term because this was a "path" the team had created when the decided they needed a little more challenge and isolation when they were training in their civies) when inspiration finally struck him, sudden and urgent and _evil_ but just right for what he had in mind. If memory served him faithfully, this particular track through the less-than-glamorous Californian underbrush happened to run parallel to a moderately-sized creek at some point farther down. It wasn't much, but Tori always demanded some kind of water feature be present whenever they created one of these runs, so it was better than nothing. It would be distracting, and that was all Hunter really cared about.

It would also be entertaining, which was a secondary bonus Hunter most certainly had _not_ dwelled on. Much.

They rounded the bend (also a very generous use of the term; it was a sharp turn or death-by-trees-and-pointy-rocks at that point) and Hunter glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw the murky brown water, about ten feet wide down a five foot slope, probably at least chest deep. It was perfect.

Before he could put too much thought into it (and he really should have, but being a team player came with a cost) Hunter plowed into Shane's side, shoving him hard past the few feet of brush that separated them from the creek. They crashed down the slope, airborne and rolling for about two seconds before flailing majestically into the muddy sludge. When Hunter was fully submerged he couldn't help but marvel at how much deeper the freaking thing was than he had originally thought. Like, he thought _maybe_ it'd go up to their waists or something. But now, doggy paddling with as much dignity as he could manage while looking half-drowned, Hunter realized he had been greatly mistaken.

On the bright side, Shane looked thoroughly pissed, so he guessed that was really all that mattered.

Awesome. Pissed-off Shane was always at least ten times more amusing than moping Shane. It was a universal fact.

The blond grinned sheepishly, instantly regretting it and spitting out some of the swill that attacked his mouth before following Shane's lead and paddling over to the side. The red ranger waited for an explanation patiently, arms folded and eyebrows furrowed in a _"leader is not pleased"_ way that was only slightly dampened by the torrent of water drops cascading off him. Hunter shrugged indifferently, wringing the bottom of his shirt out and frowning at the mud caking his shoes.

His raked his brain for an answer, settling for whatever came first to mind. "There was a…spider."

Were he less of a pro he would have winced at how weak an explanation that was, but when he managed to sneak a casual glance Shane's way it was to find him busy staring off at where they had bounded off the path, looking slightly…worried.

It would be ridiculously amazing if Hunter had managed to guess one of the things Shane was actually afraid of on a whim.

When the red ranger looked back at him with a thankful expression he pretty much confirmed Hunter's lucky guess, and the crimson ranger mentally cheered while throwing a thumbs up the other's way to let them know they were cool. No more was spoken of the actual transaction, though they did mull over the effects of it. Because running while being soaked to the bone was only appealing to Tori.

"Our apartment's pretty close," Hunter offered, knowing he probably shouldn't allow anyone into that pathetic hovel, but he wanted to keep the good feelings on a roll. Good feelings led to less-angsting, and as great as that little show of Shane’s had been, Hunter was going to start breaking into hives if this misery-business kept up.

And sure, they had come to an understanding after their run-in with Bopp-A-Roo but they had never really become _friends_. Now was as good an opportunity as any other to fix that.

You know, for the laughs.

Shane sent him a look and Hunter answered the unspoken question, "Blake's out."

His younger brother had a habit of training by the cliffs at night - one of his less-favorite habits as far as Hunter was concerned - but it made things like _this_ a lot easier to deal with.

He still didn't like it though.

The blond scowled at Shane's continued hesitance and dropped the casual air, folding his arms across his chest.

"Stop being stupid," he scolded, and then jerked his head to the side, beginning to jog off in the direction of his apartment.

He didn't exactly smile when he heard Shane's footsteps following behind him, but he didn't frown either.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Shane was nice enough to ignore how sparsely furnished the apartment was, choosing to mindlessly follow Hunter's lead as the crimson ranger prodded him into the cramped bathroom he and Blake shared. The blond tossed him a few of his less favorite towels (which were mostly Blake's) that he was willing to sacrifice to the mud gods and kicked his shoes off, glaring at the muddied pools of brown gathering at their feet. It wasn’t like he and Blake needed any help dirtying up the place; between rangering and racing they had pretty much given up all hope of ever keeping the bathroom in anything other than semi-habitable condition.

He ripped his shirt off carelessly, tossing it into the corner near the toilet (it was the corner he and Blake had unanimously decided would receive the most hate during their stay there) and ruffled the stained towel over his hair, padding it dry as best he could. He should probably start thinking about clothes at some point; he had some pajama pants that would fit Shane in a pinch (the guy was _built_ , whereas Hunter was lanky and no one had any chance of fitting into Blake's clothes besides _him_ ), and there were some t-shirts he used when he was working on bikes that were along the larger size.

When he looked up again Shane was still standing there, though his shoes were gone, dripping and fully clothed and studying Hunter with mixed looks of suspicion and skepticism that kind of made the blond reevaluate the situation and realize there _was_ a reason he should have thought this out better.

Because while his intentions _had_ been totally spur-of-the-moment, let's-distract-you/become-bestest-best-pals (sure, why not?), Shane was beginning to connect the dots in a completely wrong way that would in no shape or form benefit their relationship. Not only was he beginning to figure out there was no spider (which was true) but he was still under the _"Let's all hate Hunter"_ mindset that was starting to get **_really_** annoying, so instead of laughing-good-happy-times (Hunter was…hanging out with Dustin too much), this seemed like a really pathetic attempt by Hunter trying to try and get him naked.

Which the blond was almost ashamed to say _wasn't_ on his mind until now, and while that _would_ be nice (in a way that fresh chocolate chip cookies were nice, and, you know, he enjoyed a good view), it wasn't exactly what he was going for here.

Shane was glaring at him but Hunter gave back as good as he got, pushing past the leader into the living room with no regards to the carpet (it sucked anyway; his mud trail would probably be an improvement). He shut the door behind him and occupied himself with gathering fresh clothes; quickly changing into his own while Shane did whatever the hell he felt like doing in the bathroom.

He brought the new clothes (all nice and folded and completely devoid of _"Hey, want to make out?"_ vibes as he could make them) and knocked _politely_ on the door, frowning when he got no reply. He waited about three seconds before barging in (maybe Shane had finally passed out from all the _angst_ ) to make sure the red ranger hadn’t hurt himself. Because Hunter was pretty sure he _would_ find a way to do that, even if he was locked in a padded room.

The sight that greeted him made him think that he _really_ sucked at helping his own cause, because Shane was down to his skivvies and staring at him accusingly.

Hunter just shoved the clothes in his direction, taking a step back before declaring in a tone that was snark personified, "Just pretend I'm Dustin, or something."

Because Shane didn’t have issues when Dustin pulled this stuff. Granted, _no one_ had issues when Dustin was…Dustin - it was something they'd simply all come to expect from him - but it would be really nice to be delivered that same courtesy.

Apparently this was the wrong thing to say because Shane just glared at him, now unconcerned with his lack of attire and Hunter backpedaled, dropping his frustration and holding up his arms in a placating manner.

" _Or_ …" he offered, backing down.”Pretend I'm a less-aggravating Hunter."

Which apparently threw the other teen for a complete loop and Shane just stared for a moment, making Hunter feel oddly self-conscious. But not in a bad way. In a manly way. That was _manly_. He refused to fidget under the gaze, trying his best to hold it without looking defiant (which was difficult because that was what he'd always been about) and something in Shane's eyes finally softened, his hold loosening on the towel he once had in a death grip.

"You're really trying to make this work, aren't you?" he said, slightly confused, but it took a great weight off of Hunter which was…weird. Blake was normally the only one who could put him on the spot.

Shane was beginning to get a little more touchy-feely than Hunter was aiming for, so he tried to win back some macho points, pointing a warning finger in the red ranger's direction.

"I swear to God if this get's any more chick-flick like I will punch you."

It wasn’t a joke, but he was willing to allow Shane the delusion of thinking it was.

The red ranger just smiled evilly, running the towel through his hair.

"I'm telling Blake," he jested in a sing-song voice and Hunter simply huffed, turning his back away so Shane could have his privacy.

"Come _on_!" he grumbled to himself, crossing his arms across his chest. " _This_ is what I get for playing nice."

What he got was a laugh that didn’t feel as forced as it _could_ have, and Hunter appreciated the progress that had been made, ignoring the small surrender of dignity. And the ridiculous amounts of playing-nice he was expending. So damn much. His quota was almost being met here. The entertainment better be worth it.

The door wasn’t quite closed all the way, so Hunter heard Shane's voice clearly over the shuffling of clothes being replaced.

"Hey Hunter?"

"What?" He didn’t quite snap, still keeping up his front. Hey, man had to have his pride.

It was quieter, but not quiet enough that he couldn’t hear it, only muffled by a shirt being pulled over the other teen’s head.

"Thanks."

Hunter smiled slowly, feeling victorious for the first time in weeks.

It was a fresh start, and he would make the best of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	23. You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Some foul language on Hunter’s part.

As it turned out, playing Scrabble was not a good friendship-building activity for Shane and Hunter, mostly because 1) the former had gotten straight A’s in English since forever and 2) Hunter had a tendency to make up words and argue their validity with bitter vehemence whenever he started to lose, which was often (see point one for details). Honestly, it was all Shane’s fault; Hunter had always been able to beat Blake with remarkable ease so he had certain expectations he had to live up to, a Scrabble reputation, if you will. It wasn’t his fault Shane couldn’t get with the program. Or had laughed in the blond’s face when Hunter had taken the time to explain the program (with a sarcastic bite of course; blatant honesty would have to be slaved for, damn it, Hunter was _not_ easy).

So that was out. Actually, all board games, and video games, and just- anything that required competing against each other, because they both knew better but they were so retardedly stupid about it anyway, as if their “friendly competition” wouldn’t almost immediately warp into un-friendly competition with angry faces all around.

So working together, yes. Against each other? No.

And with their new mutual indifference and maybe even “timid kinship” (those were Tori’s words because Hunter-no, Shane didn’t get to be part of his kin so easily) came the realization that the team of Hunter/Shane kicked serious ass. It helped that they weren’t distracted by raging hormones and the desire to make out with each other (or Shane wasn’t, and Hunter didn’t dislike him enough to traumatize the poor guy so-), but when the reds got together, bad guys beware. Also good guys. You _did not_ cross the reds. One thrived on barely contained psychotic mania and the other one was so stubborn you might as well stab yourself in the face than try to get on the other side of him, because at least then you would be successful. With these qualities it only made sense that they balanced each other out, at least during training and on the battle field.

During down time however…yeah, they were still working on it.  

It was difficult to find something to fight against when you were doing something simple, like making lunch together (like the domesticated ninnies they were, wasn’t that just the picture of quaintness?). Because even super heroes needed to eat. But simple things like that, making food, which should be easy…well, it wasn’t, for them. And it was bad. It was _so_ bad. Because when they were fighting or training or smashing Kelzaks into broken piles of misfortune and woe there was a sense of urgency, of importance and adrenaline that required a level of focus and serious consideration. It made it easier, with that formality, with that pressure, to work together as a seamless team. But put them in a kitchen and force them to make sandwiches…

It was tense, just because of the normalcy of it. For two guys whose first meetings had consisted of trying to blow each up while wearing skin tight armor and battling in giant robot animals, just sitting down and making food -something they had to do, something they did every day - it was just, weird. Uncomfortable even, because it was so basic. They didn’t have to show off or be strong or make cunning plans; they just had to pick out what to put between two pieces of bread, and make small talk, and they were _failing_ at it, horribly.

Perhaps because it was so close to being like, a moment of weakness, maybe, allowing themselves to put their guard down (sort of, but Hunter would always hide behind his sarcasm, it was his friend, it hadn’t failed him yet), that was keeping them from actually communicating.

And, dear god, just thinking that sentence filled Hunter with a hopeless despair he had to fight to shake off because, no, he didn’t want to put this much effort into thinking about why he and Shane were failing, or think things like “he and Shane”, because that implied a form of commitment he wasn’t really headed for. Granted, anyone else would argue that his actions said otherwise, but anyone else wasn’t _Hunter_ , and were therefore arguably stupid. Especially Cam. Cam wasn’t allowed to comment on things.

So instead Hunter decided to focus on somehow solidifying the thing he and Shane had (and no, shut up, not _that_ kind of thing), because if they could harness their combined awesome off the battle field they would be freaking indestructible, and Cam would only be able to win arguments if Dustin decided to stick up for him, because everyone liked the yellow ranger best anyway.

And Shane would also stop being a mopey loser, so it was pretty much a win for everyone all around.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Hunter figured out the solution to their problems a couple of days later, with absolutely no help from Blake and just a smidgeon of inspiration from those teen bonding tv specials Dustin seemed so fond of. It was simple and brilliant, and just appropriate enough that Hunter wouldn’t have to listen to the mocking voice in the back of his head that taunted him for how much effort he had to put into making _fwiends._

Camping. Simple but effective. They would make a thing of it, go into the wilderness to bond with their elements (with everyone, because he and Shane probably wouldn’t be able to handle one-on-one in the rustic outdoors without it getting creepy). It would combine what they were good at (the training, rangering stuff) with the areas they were less skilled in (cooking, talking, basic interactions). Throw in the good with the bad. All-in-all, not a bad approach. Hunter would dare admit he was actually a little proud for thinking it up.

But then you know, _life_ happened, and as though to spite his very small and calculated victory things started to fall apart fairly quickly. Because Cam was a busy guy (of _course_ it would be Cam’s fault, unraveling Hunter’s achievements because he was a dick like that) and while the blond could sort of sympathize with the tech’s workload, he could have at least _pretended_ to consider Hunter’s offer. Or given it enough attention that his utter disdain for it wasn’t so obvious (though that probably had more to do with the fact it was Hunter’s plan rather than the plan itself; yay teamwork), or at least picked up on Hunter’s very silent but would-have-been-more-effective-had-they-been-noticed eye communications of do-this-or-I’ll-smash-you-back (though it could arguably be said that was what had increased Cam’s workload in the first place).

Fact of the matter was that Hunter had to run it by Cam first, because he was the coordinator. And he and Cam were still on very, very bad terms. Hunter was sure he had prepared some sort of logical argument to win Cam over, provide enough facts and sound conclusions that would send the tech’s inner nerd into ecstasy, high on cloud nine from his reasoning. Speak the lingo of the natives, if you will.

Cam had tolerated that for all of five seconds (or again, that could have just been Hunter, and not the argument itself) before he got pissy and declared the crimson ranger’s idea a waste of time, which in turn led Hunter to say some less-nice things about what he knew the tech was doing in _his_ downtime, and they were a few insults away from fighting (again) when Sensei intervened. Having caught the tail end of their conversation he laid down the judgment, throwing his support behind Hunter (victory tasted _so_ good) but allowing Cam to opt out of the trip to focus on his duties.

Of course, Cam backing out gave the okay for anyone else who wanted to back out, which included Blake (work, and yes, Hunter knew they needed the money, and he should be racing too but this was important, ish) and then Tori (family visiting, couldn’t get out of it) and while these were all very nice and reasonable excuses, and hanging out with just Shane and Dustin was definitely a step up from say, Shane and Cam, Hunter was going to go ahead and pin all the blame on the green ranger, because…

Hell, it wasn’t like he needed a reason.

But those were the cards he’d been dealt, so Hunter gladly took them in stride and packed up his sleeping bag ‘bed’ and the other miscellaneous equipment they would need, barging through this idea of hitting the outdoors so hard that neither Shane or Dustin would back out on him.

The best thing about this trip, aside from being pure genius (and look at Hunter, putting so much effort into bonding-shit), was the fact that Sensei allowed them the use of Cam’s car. Since Tori couldn’t loan them her van (in the sense that Hunter never asked to borrow her van, because he really, _really_ wanted to make Cam suffer), it was their default mode of transport. Hunter even got the okay to drive, in that he was the one who snuck into Ninja Ops in the dead of the night and nicked the keys and- okay, maybe it wasn’t as ‘allowed’ a transaction as Hunter had previously led the others to believe, but honestly, if Sensei _hadn’t_ wanted them to use the vehicle he would have smacked Hunter’s ass down in ten seconds, guinea pig body or no. Ninja master was still a ninja master, after all.

Thankfully, for the sake of ‘bonding’, Shane and Dustin had left their cell phones at home, so as not to miss the point of the nature-familiarity aspect of their little outing, so Cam couldn’t call them halfway to the intended campsite and bitch Hunter out by way of passive-aggressive suggestions through Dustin. Because it would be Dustin. And since accessing their morphers was restricted to emergencies only and Cam was the most straight-laced respecter of rules that ever did exist, the only thing he could do about it was think mean thoughts at Hunter, which he probably did on a regular basis anyway.

Game. Set. Match. And Hunter was the winner baby, just as it should be.

And at some point, Hunter was going to learn to not have ridiculously smug, self-satisfied thoughts until _after_ the mission goal had been completed.

It wasn’t like he was unfamiliar with the universe knowing to take its cue just as he was feeling victorious. It really wasn’t.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It started raining as soon as they got to the campsite. Oh, wait, did Hunter say raining? He meant pouring. He meant wall-of-unimpressed-water-torrentially-pouring-down-in-a-solid-effort-of-on-land-drowning, kind of rain. True to form, it hadn’t started until they were trying to figure out the best place to set up the tent. On high ground, preferably, so that if it rained they wouldn’t get flooded and- holy shit- what was that- _oh my god_.

It was. God damn. _Everywhere_.

Being the good little shinobis that they were, they had hiked (ran, streaked, whatever) a fair distance away from the car, because one did not truly understand one’s intricate connection with nature in a man-made campsite with things like plumbing and metal firepits and picnic tables hovering nearby. They were going to do it the right way. The _real_ way. The way that left them without any proper shelter to retreat to in case Mother Nature decided to start _drowning them_ , so suck it up, you have to finish setting up the damn tent.

This was not the bonding Hunter had hoped for. For one, there was supposed to be less cursing. And less water-impaired vision. And less _water_.

So they were trying, and somewhat failing, to locate and arrange all the appropriate pieces, and guide the rods through their appropriate holes and properly situate the rain flap _(_ because _why not)_ and all the while it became apparent that Dustin happened to be less-than-pleased at Hunter for reasons that were unbefitting to be shared, so on top of the rain and Shane’s patient directions there was a soaked yellow ranger occasionally throwing what would best be described as a pouty face in Hunter’s direction, and discovering a new-found snippy-ness that, for the record, did not work on him at all.

But they were _bonding_ so…

“What _?”_ Hunter asked, pausing a moment to spit out the water that had stubbornly made its way into his mouth by doing so, then turned towards Shane.

The red ranger made another vague motion. “A little to the right,” he said, sounding strained. “Just push it forward and-”

“I can do it,” Dustin offered. Though Hunter barely heard it over the roar of the water, there was a certain tone to his words that suggested maybe someone less _Hunter_ would have more success in getting the tent poles arranged. Or maybe he was reading into it too much.

Based on the irritated look Shane gave him (and yeah, even Hunter could tell that much through the rain; the red ranger wasn’t exactly being _subtle_ ), the blond was leaning towards his initial assumption.

“It’s fine,” Shane said, patient and calming, though Hunter could see it was a little forced. There was a certain tension to his shoulders. “Just keep weaving the other pole through. The faster we get this thing up, the faster we get…less drowned.”

Hunter scoffed, realizing the other teen had almost said “dry” before discovering that as the hopeless promise it was.

By Dustin’s uneasy shifting, just a brief movement in his peripherals, Hunter could tell the yellow ranger was not pleased with this response. “Are you sure? Because I could-”

“You got something to say Dustin, then spit it out,” Hunter griped, pushing his assigned pole forward, as instructed, and ignoring the glare his tone earned him. “Cam’s busy schedule is not my fault.”

Sure, snapping at each other probably wasn’t the best way to encourage good feelings, but if Dustin was going to go all bitch-face on him _anyway_ he might as well address the issue before they spent the entire weekend glaring behind Shane’s back. Which would only be effective about thirty percent of the time anyway, because Shane was a lot more attentive than Hunter ever gave him credit for (when it came to Dustin) so the other seventy percent of the time they would have to carry on under the weight of Shane’s put-upon expression of disappointment, and Hunter did not need that judging. And it seemed counter-intuitive, but Hunter was mostly against the unwelcome judgments. Really.

As expected, that was all the prompting Dustin needed to stop his grumpy silent treatment. “Dude, you blew up his lab.”

“He punched me in the face,” Hunter said, repeating this fact for what felt like the hundredth (or maybe the eight, whatever) time. “He punched me and then I figured, you know, body swap or whatever.”

And if there might have been a few moments where Cam had tried to talk to him, when it became apparent that aside from the initial punch Cam wasn’t really all that interested in fighting, that was a secret no one besides Hunter needed to know. Because honestly, that had only made him angrier. When he realized it wasn’t Lothor-related, that Cam’s punch had been one hundred percent swayed by his own decision as a resolution to the steps that had led them to that point, it had made Hunter go a _little_ psychopath. Because when he was threatened, or blindsided, Hunter had learned from a young age to hit back and to hit back _harder_ , with enough ferocity that your target could never perceive you as surprised or wounded, because that gave you back the control. Hunter could deal with fighting Cam, but he hadn’t really been in a state to talk it out when Cam was ready to bust out the pity eyes, because Hunter didn’t need that shit. He had _never_ needed that shit.

But Dustin didn’t know any of this, just like Shane didn’t know any of this, so the brunette continued focusing on the matter at hand, curls plastered to the side of his face somewhat hindering the aggravated expression he was throwing Hunter’s way.

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to destroy his _lab_.”

“Body. Swap,” Hunter repeated, sticking firmly to his guns. “That was an unintended consequence.”

“Yeah, but-”

“Guys,” Shane interrupted (finally, Hunter was beginning to wonder when he’d be done as a passive bystander). “That’s enough. Dustin-” He turned towards the earth ninja, who was still stubbornly fiddling with his side of the tent. “Hunter had a legitimate concern there. Our lives are weird, he was just responding as appropriately as he could.” Like anything about it had been ‘appropriate’. “Hunter,” Shane continued. “I know you did what you thought was best, but next time, try to keep the damage to a minimum, okay? Or get the fight outside of Ninja Ops.”

He didn’t elaborate beyond that, but there was a certain…something to his expression, Hunter thought, though what it was, exactly, was difficult to perceive through the rain. It was beyond his usual leader-ly concern, to a degree that either he suspected there was more to Hunter’s story than the blond had divulged, or maybe it was pity of his own, or maybe Shane was just being disappointed again, because Shane was oh-so very good at that.

Or, hey, maybe it had a little somethin’-somethin’ to do with the fact that the resident tech may or may not being giving Shane the cold shoulder, to a degree that Hunter was almost jealous of. Seriously, if he could get Cam to consider him with complete apathy, Hunter would have appreciated it, because it certainly would have cut down the times he was on the receiving end of the other teen’s sharp wit. Even if he gave back as good (or better) as he got, avoiding the annoyance altogether would have been preferable.

Some guys just had all the luck.

“Will do, boss,” Hunter replied, trying to keep his sarcasm to a minimum. He wasn’t stupid enough to try and banish it completely, but he would like Dustin to know he was at least making an effort here, and that was what mattered.

Dustin, seemingly deflating now that the issue was resolved, nodded with a quiet slump of his shoulders. “I’m sorry Hunter. You know, for being…”

“It’s cool.” The sentiment was appreciated, but touchy-feely stuff with Dustin wasn’t the ultimate goal of this weekend. Wrong target, and all that. “I can understand wanting to spend time with your boy-toy.”

“Boyfriend,” Dustin corrected automatically, but he sounded as brilliantly cheerful as he always did, instead of annoyed, and if Hunter read his body language right (and he did, because even the rain couldn’t hide _that_ much), the yellow ranger was doing a good job of being all starry-eyed.

 _Awww, young love_.

Even if Dustin had atrocious taste.

“Same difference,” Hunter dismissed, casually. He turned his attention back to adjusting the tent poles, flicking a small stone in Dustin’s direction to get him to do the same, and consciously ignored Shane’s sudden silence as though it were completely par for the course.

Still a touchy subject, cool. And thankfully, easy to fix. Hunter could totally manage to not-talk about Cam for an entire weekend. And he had enough distractions tucked away that he could probably steer Dustin away from referencing his genius boyfriend for at least…one day, probably.

If that failed, he had a deck of cards tucked into his pack. They could play go-fish.

It wasn’t the worst decoy he had ever thought of. Except then it would get Shane all riled-up again and…

Palm reading, or something. Blake had tried that out once; Hunter could most likely bullshit enough stuff to make that believable. Or they could do ghost stories. That was a thing teenagers did, right?

Hunter went ahead and threw that query out to form a solid consensus. “Teenagers tell ghost stories, right?” He turned towards Dustin, who took the sudden change in subject much better than Shane. “They do that, right? I mean, what other kinds of things do they do?”

Dustin shrugged, shaking off his starry eyes. “Love, sex, and drugs,” he decided with a thoughtful nod of his head.

There was a strangled coughing noise from Shane’s general direction, though whether it was from the rain or not, Hunter did not care. “No, we’re not doing any of that,” he said, as the sputters from Shane grew louder. “Also, you need to stop taking societal cues from soap operas, Dustin; those things are unrealistic by even our standards.”

“But-”

“No.” Hunter would not hear it.

“But it was _his_ baby,” Dustin argued, completely heartfelt and sincere as to this being a logical response to Hunter’s declaration.

Hunter, who had long since learned how to put up with Dustin’s…Dustiness, insisted stubbornly, “ _No_.”

Near Shane’s corner of the tent the coughing had died out and was replaced with laughter, and if Hunter had to guess (because he was so very good at guessing), the red ranger was probably shaking his head fondly at their antics. “Give it up Hunter,” he said, smile in his voice. “You’re not going to win this one.”

Hunter shrugged, ignoring the newest bout of rain as it helpfully made its way down the back of his shirt. “Doesn’t mean I can’t try.”

“Wouldn’t be Hunter if he didn’t,” Dustin chirped, earning a fresh bout of laughter.

They worked on, conversation moving just as steadily as the rain, and Hunter tried not to think about how unfairly accurate that was, that Dustin could see that when others couldn’t, or _if_ Dustin could see it, maybe everyone else could, and if that was the case should there or should there not be a response created to combat this?

Instead of over-thinking it, Hunter took the moment in for what it was, not nearly so bad as it could have been – despite it all – and moved on, enjoying it like the raging psycho that he was.

“Alright then,” Hunter began, a new idea supplanting the idea of horror stories, throwing a cocky grin Dustin’s way. “Tell me more about this baby.”

Under the brightness of Dustin’s gaze, the blond could drown out the feelings of approval radiating from Shane, not that it was necessary. It helped him restrain the overwhelming smugness as Hunter discovered a new tactic for bonding with the red ranger, restraining any annoyance that he hadn’t discovered it before.

Secondary bonding via Dustin-familiarization. Should of thought of that shit sooner.

This weekend would be fine.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Mother. Fucking. _Rain_.

They had, through sheer determination, managed to set up the tent properly and get tucked away inside with their thoroughly drenched clothing. They had changed clothes to Dustin’s steady explanation of some chick tricking some gay guy into getting her pregnant, then pretending it was her boyfriend’s baby, then pretending it was some _other_ dude’s baby when he found out that the child couldn’t have possibly belonged to the boyfriend, when all the while _it was really the gay dude’s_ baby. It was as stupid as any soap opera could be, because if a chick slept around that much why the hell would the referenced-boyfriend ever believe the baby-thing? But whatever, love was blind. It was good, and Dustin didn’t even take mild offense to Hunter and Shane ripping apart the story’s plot holes, so the blond figured this had to be an interaction that had occurred many times before.

It was easy, routine, _good_. It wasn’t as excruciating as Hunter had suspected it could be. True, he wasn’t entirely letting them past his wall; because Hunter was not, in fact, a god damn idiot, but these two were actually…it was actually alright, spending time with them.

It definitely wasn’t something Hunter should be accustomed to, but as far as superfluous quirks went, Hunter could imagine indulging in their company from time to time. Maybe as a reward, definitely as a front for the elusion of teamwork, but at the end of the day it was an experience that wouldn’t detract from himself. That was something.

The mild, almost say, nonexistent, loneliness Hunter had tried to stave off with Cam could just as easily be distracted by these two. That was another victory for Hunter – _in your face Cam_ – and all in all, it looked to be like a fairly successful weekend, despite the fact they would most likely never leave the damn tent.

“What bugs me,” Hunter was saying, chocolate power bar half in his mouth as he considered his next card’s placement. “Is how she managed to get a gay guy to have sex with her in the first place. He’s _gay_ , that’s not usually a thing you can just ignore by power of just, you know, _asking_.”

“He was in denial,” Dustin replied, frowning down at his own card. “So like, not completely there yet? He seemed cool with it.”

“Bet anything that confirmed the deal,” Hunter groused, frowning at Shane’s apparent ease on his side of the card house, balancing another two cards together with perfect care. “Like, he saw a consenting female and was all over that, to prove his super-straightness-”

“Or regular straightness,” Shane said lightly, no bitterness, only a stated fact.

Hunter had been keeping an eye on these things, seeing as it was straying very close to the edge of the red ranger’s comfort zone. So far, Shane hadn’t shown any signs of possible breakdowns, so he was most likely occupied with the whole ‘good times’ of this scenario rather than the true implications of their conversation. Cool.

“His straightness-straightness,” Hunter amended, earning an exaggerated eye-roll from Shane and some giggles from Dustin. “And then when he woke up in the morning he was all yep, I like dudes.”

“And it’s even an option for non-tv people,” Dustin added happily, eyes darting between the two of them for confirmation. He still did that, from time to time, but Hunter had learned not to take it personally. Eventually he realized the added validation was less from Dustin not-trusting the thunder ninja than it was from still coming to terms with what the brunette had now, that really good, really _great_ thing for him now, he wanted to make sure he wasn’t just dreaming it, still under the delusion it was too good to be true.

Like Blake and Hunter, a lot of good things had been taken from Dustin. It was one of the reasons they had gotten along with him first.

“Indeed,” Hunter confirmed with a sage nod, glaring down at his two selected cards. Damn things refused to balance out right. Maybe he should stick to making the roof-bit.

“Hey, you should try it out sometime Shane,” Dustin said brightly. His nose was scrunched in what looked like an epic expression of extreme concentration, which was unfortunate for him, Hunter supposed, since he missed Shane’s rather impressive surprised flail; the cards in his hands flying to the far corners of the tent as he stared at Dustin, clearly shocked, embarrassed, and maybe a bit put upon.

Hunter wouldn’t know, as he didn’t bother with such emotions.

“It’s really great,” Dustin continued, completely ignorant of the storm of _blerrrr_ that he was going to unleash.

For the sake of bonding, Hunter deftly stepped in for Shane before his face would explode. “If he wants to do it Dustin, he’ll do it, otherwise…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah; I got it,” Dustin made a vague waving motion in the blond’s direction, his eyes still focused on his cards. “His business.”

“Exactly.”

“You know, _he_ is right here,” Shane groused, beginning to look like he was coming back to himself. ‘Bout damn time actually. “You could just ask ‘him’.”

The wicked grin could not be helped, not when Shane made it so tempting, and Hunter gladly turned it on him, smile growing under the sudden look of uncertainty it instigated.

“Wanna make out with boys Shane?” Hunter drawled, finger tracing along the outside edge of a card. “Or do you want us to be respectful individuals and not bother you about such things?”

Dustin answered for him. “The second option dude, trust me, that’s the one he wants.”

“Again,” Shane grumbled, rubbing a tired hand across his face. “Right here. But yeah, option two.”

“A most honorable decision.” Hunter made a show of rubbing his chin, earning a delighted laugh from Dustin.

His luck must have been holding out, because Shane laughed too, and hey, there might have even been some _fondness_ there. “Honorable, sure. I was going with ‘sane’, but-”

Hunter waved him off. “Po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe.”

“And that,” Dustin concluded. “Is what she said.”

“You’re still not using that correctly,” Hunter dutifully informed the brunette, maybe-perhaps-not-really- _shut-up_ taking pleasure in the immediate look of consternation that made its way onto his features. Accompanied with a pout, that was, even Hunter could admit, adorable. Probably not a hundred percent effective (Hunter had _Blake_ to compare him to, after all), but he could see it possibly being Shane and Tori’s undoing.

Hunter made a note of that as a potential strategy in the instance of needing to undermine the command structure. Or for getting the movie he wanted on the next team bonding night. It could work for both.

Dustin, who had taken a moment to abandon his card creation, frowned at the blond. “But how-”

“Just trust me Dustin,” Hunter interrupted, aware of where he was going. “-when I say that you will probably never understand, or ever use it correctly and that this, my friend, is probably for the best.”

“It’s true Dustin,” Shane confirmed, looking pleased. Easy mark, that guy; all Hunter had to do was throw in the phrase ‘friend’ every now and then and _boom_ , instant happiness. So long as Hunter appeared sincere, of course.

The non-sincere times had ended in disappointed faces and extra training laps, _with Cam_ , so Hunter had reevaluated that strategy early on.

“Now what you could do,” Hunter began, snagging Dustin’s neglected cards and cheerfully shoving them in the direction of his roof project. “If you really need a catch phrase, is tack on ‘in accordance with the prophesy’ at the end of a sentence. It gives a certain added level of mystique and wisdom, you know, and you should use it around Blake just about always, because he finds that stuff _hilarious_.”

It would show the asshole right too, after what he had made Hunter suffer through when they were nine. That had been an unpleasant phase that ended with two black eyes, a missing toothbrush, and an indeterminable amount of Teddy Grahams whose sacrifice would not be forgotten. Their parents had found the entire thing hysterical, but at the time Hunter could only view them as betraying enablers.

He would pay anything now, to have those two weeks back where he had stubbornly refused to talk to them.

Damn, _damn_ , too real; Hunter didn’t need that. Falling apart was counter-intuitive to the goal and not an option; he had to maintain, to build this stupid card house and talk to these stupid people and _bond_ , he had to do that, right? If he wanted to win at something-

The mood shifted in a heartbeat, but this had less to do with Hunter’s unwanted stroll down memory lane and more to do with the tent’s sudden decision to go on the run. It was the side to Shane’s back that lurched, pulled off the ground by a strong gust of wind and knocking the red ranger forward. Cards flew in all directions, and they– or at least Hunter – lurched forward, trying to get the bottom back against the ground before they-

Were spiraling across the ground in a nylon cocoon, trapped and tangled as the tent continued to roll across the ground like a battered soccer ball. “ _Shane_ ,” Hunter yelled, Dustin pressed against his side in an awkward position, his nose buried against the blond’s bicep. “Get this damn wind under control!”

“I’m trying!” The tent had twisted until there was a layer of weatherproof cloth beween them, bags digging into their feet, their arms, their heads. “But I don’t know how-”

“The stakes! The damn stakes must have ripped out!”

With nothing to secure them to the ground it had just been a matter of time before the tent decided to take a joy ride.

“I know, but-”

“God _damn it_ ,” Hunter cursed bitterly, knowing there was very little he could do in this situation short of whipping out his knife and cutting them all loose.

“Stop _swearing_ ,” Dustin chided, remarkably calm, all things considered, but then again, this could very well count as a good time in Dustin-land. The guy was kind of out-there.

“Just-”

“Got it,” Shane said, sounding a little bit strained. They came to an abrupt halt, gasping, trying to brush off the sudden wave of adrenaline.

They lay there for a few minutes, the steady patter of rain echoing off their would-be shelter now only inches away from their faces, their movement stopped but their tent-trap very much intact.

“Okay,” Hunter said, realizing that Shane would be too absorbed with keeping the rising winds at bay to do any of that leadering he loved so much. “Plan B.”

As the blond knew he would, Dustin dutifully craned his neck to get a better look at him. “What’s plan B?”

“The plan that should have been plan A,” Hunter not-so-helpfully elaborated.

It earned him another pout which was, he learned, slightly more effective at close-range. Good to know.

“Come on,” he said, sitting up to bat the nylon shelter away. “We’ll just shove this thing in the trunk as is; it’ll be easier to move everything if we just keep it inside. Now help me find the zipper.”

“That’s great and all,” Dustin muttered, sulking as he carried out Hunter’s orders. “But what’s plan B?”

“I’m also interested in plan B,” Shane added, sounding strained.

Well, at least one guy had connected with his element this trip. That was something.

“You’ll like it,” Hunter replied, smirking as he found the exit to their cocoon. “Just trust me.”

This was still savable.

-:-:-:-:-:-

“I like how plan B turned out to be my living room,” Dustin chirped happily, bringing in yet another load of pillows from his bedroom, all color clashing and bright and not a single one of them having an ounce of coordination with the others. “You’re right; we should have just done this.”

“Why didn’t we?” Shane paused in the process of arranging the pillows and blankets Dustin had already unloaded from his room into a rainbow nest in front of the couches, the coffee table safely moved off to the side. “It seems like it would have been easier.”

Hunter considered this as he rooted through Dustin’s DVD collection. “Because with the camping trip, we could at least _pretend_ we were training. With this there is no pretense, and thus any and all sleepover jokes from Blake will have to be endured in graceful silence.”

“Dude, you know he would just be jealous,” Dustin said absently, giving Shane’s work an approving nod before moving to make another trip. “Shane, what’s the status on the pizza?”

“Ordered and en route.”

“Did you get-?”

“Yes.”

“And the-?”

“Yes.”

“Is there enough-?”

“Yes Dustin, I’ve done this before.” The words were that of an annoyed individual, but if you looked at Shane’s face there was nothing but fondness, and the feeling that this was a conversation they had many times.

In a shocking twist to break the ritual, Dustin turned his head towards Hunter, hands firmly planted on his hips. “Did he get the garlic sauce?”

“You think I’d let him hang up without getting the garlic sauce?” Hunter asked, quirking an eyebrow. He rocked back, one hand planted against his chest. “Sir, I am _wounded_ you would think so lowly of me.”

Dustin looked at his reaction in all seriousness, his eyes sympathizing but composed. “These things must be confirmed, Mr. Bradley; I meant no offense.”

The gigantic movie collection in front of Hunter just about explained Dustin’s lapses into odd formality as he took notes from his favorite stories, and Hunter kind of envied him for that, that the yellow ranger had managed to find a way to cope with the world by relying on these fictional universes.

“Of course.” Hunter gave a stern nod, then turned back to his work. “As you were.”

Without looking, the blond knew Shane had to have been smiling upon this entire exchange, even as the brunette moved back to his intended task, conversation done. The footsteps stopped though, near the edge of the staircase. Hunter wondered what he’d forgot.

“You can invite him, you know,” Dustin said casually. “If Blake’s free, I mean.”

Hunter turned just in time to see the earth ninja disappear up the steps. He wasn’t sure how to respond to that, and it must have read on his face because the next second Shane was laughing and tossing pillows his direction, thoroughly snapping Hunter out of his funk.

“Hey- _hey_ , knock it off, you’re crazy.”

“Sure I am,” Shane chirped, looking pleased. He looked content for a moment, and then his eyes did that ‘real-talk’ thing they tended to do when he wanted a heart-to-heart moment of epic sappiness. “You should call him though,” he said, nodding towards the phone.

Hunter turned to look at it, considering, and the other teen added, “And hurry up and pick a damn movie before I end up watching Harry Potter again. It’s a good movie but like, eight times is my limit.” Hunter sent a bewildered gaze at him, and Shane shrugged. “For the month, I mean.”

“Spiderman it is,” Hunter said, grabbing the closest DVD and moving over the entertainment center, lobbing a few of Shane’s weaponized pillows back in his general direction. “And toss me the phone, will you?”

They never had to elaborate on it, real-talk avoided, but in the end, it was still good. Even after Dustin made his way back downstairs and made disapproving _tsking_ noises at Shane’s choice of projectiles and the red ranger and Hunter spend the entire time until the pizza arrives following the brunette’s directions until everything wasjust _so_.

Blake showed up with the pizza, and as expected, Dustin greeted his arrival as it was always intended, _“In accordance with the prophecy.”_

The look on his brother’s face would have been worth suffering through ten thunderstorms.

The look on Shane’s was enough to let Hunter know that he had really nailed this whole ‘bonding’ thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That plot line Dustin was going on about is from an actual soap opera. And it’s actually a lot crazier than the version he shared with Shane and Hunter. On an unrelated note, if you’re wondering how long it takes for a guy to open a paternity letter in a soap opera, the answer it too god damn long. Way too long.
> 
> There's something unintentionally-sad about Dustin's seemingly favorite movie being Harry Potter, but that was unintended commentary on my part, though I feel it is no less relevant to his character.
> 
> Happy Labor Day everyone!!!!
> 
> Until next time :)


	24. As We Stumble Along

While he _could_ sit and ponder the many instances where Cyber Cam's programming could have gone awry (and he had to be realistic, there were many), Cam had chosen instead to stew over his decision to insure Cyber Cam's unlimited access to his entire array of databases. He could easily chalk it up as an unnecessary precaution - his paranoia working at its finest - but if he was going to be honest it was because he had taken a small pride in the fact that he _could_. Yes, it was useful to have a program that knew everything and in theory, it sounded completely logical. What was the point of designing a super computer if it didn't have the capability to provide solutions for any situation? There wasn't. But there was even _less_ of a point if something in the hardware blew out and total operational control had been compromised. Which was also because of his pride…and his desire to want to spend more time with Dustin…and _Dustin's_ desire for him to spend more time with Dustin…

So Cam may have jumped the gun a little. May have gotten too eager, didn't run enough tests, didn't check everything as thoroughly as he should have.

And now he was trapped in a closet, joints bound by a rather creative combination of knots so intricate that he would be lucky if he managed to untie them in anything _less_ than three hours. To say he was displeased with this turn of events would be like saying he was displeased with Lothor trying to take over the world. It didn't _quite_ do his circumstances justice.

And during his lost time here who _knew_ what Cyber Cam could be up to. Cam thought he knew, thought he had _some_ idea what the rogue program could have wanted, but if his command override was failing any number of his hologram's other systems could have backfired or completely fallen into decline. For all Cam knew his program could be doing something as harmful as running around attempting to lead the Blue Bay Harbor's citizens into revolution or something as benign as sunbathing.

One thing was guaranteed though: Cyber Cam did _not_ take well to authority figures. He had missed Cam's father luckily, but if the hologram met up with Shane or Hunter and orders started flying things would probably not go well. Social confrontation through bondage does not a solid relationship make. Probably. Cam wasn't too up-to-date on those kind of things but that seemed like one of the more obvious rules. Then again, there seemed to be a number of unnecessary and stupidly enforced colloquialisms out there nowadays.

He exhaled sharply through his gag, commanding his mind to get off those useless trains of thought and back to the matter of acquiring his freedom.  He frowned as much as the constraining cloth allowed, berating himself as his fingers picked away at the third knot, painstakingly slow.  Victory came slowly over that one knot, a naive amateur among seasoned pros, and Cam moved on. Despite knowing better he couldn't help but trail his mind over the possible actions his creation could be executing. Would he seek out the others? Dustin? Cam loathed the thought, hoped that _that_ particular development happened so late in the programming stages that Cyber Cam didn't hold the same fondness for the yellow ranger that Cam did.

No, at the time he had been focused on Sha-

Cam shook his head, wrists jerking and fingers slippery with sweat, and the jolt of pain (small as it was) was enough to bring him back on track.

Cyber Cam should hold no preference for any of them, but then again, Cyber Cam shouldn't have gone rogue. He shouldn't have become independent. And the list goes on and _on_ about what he _shouldn't_ be able to do, and what he _could_ do and what he _might_ be doing but when it all came down to it all Cam could do was sit in this god forsaken closet and work at untying the Mona Lisa of knot combinations so that he could get _outside_ and put a stop to whatever shenanigans or not-catastrophes his cyber replicate could be committing. In fact, it didn't even matter if all his program had done after he tied Cam up was stand still facing a wall; the tech was going to bring it down and bring it down _hard_.

And then, when the mess was cleaned up and he programmed in the mother of all command overrides, he was going to take a nap. Preferably with Dustin. Because if he had learned anything from his time with Shane (as much as he tried to forget it), it was that stress was as dangerous a thing as any of the monster they fought. And _like_ the monsters they fought, it needed to be dealt with accordingly.

With pillows.

A vast plethora of pillows.

-:-:-:-:-:-

New Cam was starting to freak him out just a little bit.

Dustin didn't know what happened, he didn't know if he _said_ something that made Cam decide to…dude up or if the computer genius just kind of epiphanied it on his own, but between this morning and _now_ Cam had decided to give himself a major overhaul and Dustin didn't know if he was supposed to feel flattered or mildly freaked out.

It was touching in a way…kind of.

His boyfriend was trying so hard (and succeeding; he totally smacked Shane down at skateboarding) and being so peppy and happy and…radical. But it was really weird. Like, _really_ weird. And most of Dustin just wanted to find the reset button on today so he could just hang out with Cam and prevent whatever caused _this_ to happen.

Because Dustin wasn't happy with this, not even a little bit. Could he really be blamed here? He _liked_ Old Cam. Old Cam was the chocolate to his sundae, the cheese to his burger, the button to his teddy bear's eye (and yes, you were never too old for a teddy bear). Old Cam, _normal_ Cam was the perfect compliment to Dustin; he was the calm one, the smart one, the dominant one. He gathered all of Dustin's wild thoughts and made sense of what the yellow ranger had been repeatedly told was indiscernible. He was sarcastic and lovably grumpy and _just_ the right amount of crotchety that made Dustin's days sparkle like a little girls tennis shoes.

And he wasn't hating this because he didn't like change, he just…he liked original Cam better. This sequel, new and improved, _"totally wicked"_ version was giving him a sour feeling in his stomach and he didn't know how to deal with it. Was this what Cam thought he wanted? Like, another _him_? Why would Dustin want to date himself? _He_ wasn't that big a fan of himself; that was why he was dating Cam. Did he really come off as _that_ self-absorbed?

And the worst part wasn't even that Cam had decided this completely out of the blue (because Dustin hadn't even given off a _hint_ that he was unhappy and required changes from Cam _now_ please-and-thank-you-very-much), it was the fact that this…

This was pretty much Cam's interpretation of _him_.

And as good as he was at sports, Cam's interpretation of him was kind of a tool.

Like, all the couple-y stuff Dustin had finally gotten them to work up to in public had been completely thrown out the window. Cam was ignoring him, maybe because he wanted to do a good job of showing off how much he could change, but this was really working _against_ what Dustin wanted. How could a guy who was that smart do something this stupid? Seriously, Dustin wanted to know. If there was a book or website that someone could point him to he would be really very thankful because _none of this made any sense._

And he wasn't the only one who thought this. He could tell; the best friend language he had worked out with Shane totally screamed that he wasn't buying whatever it was Cam was selling either. And Dustin didn't need to be bestest-best pals with Hunter to see that the crimson ranger was suspicious too, occasionally glancing at Dustin searchingly, as though _he_ knew anything about this.

Dustin scrubbed a hand angrily through his hair, sending a worried look Shane's way. He didn't _care_ how good Cam was at surfing; he just wanted him back.

Shane caught his eye and reached over to give his arm a comforting squeeze, somehow reading his mind. Dustin _hated_ this, he didn't know why…

The thought came to him so suddenly that he was pretty much bowled over by it, air leaving his lungs so fast that Shane sent him a concerned look and Dustin had to wave him off, pulling away to get some space. And it was stupid; it was a stupid thought because by this point he and Cam had reassured each other of their relationship so many times they were practically champions of it, of being insecure and doubtful and needy and it was almost a wonder they managed to breath without the other calling the other into question. It was beyond ridiculous; it was just sad really, because they should know, _know_ by now where they stood but then Cam went and did stuff like this and Dustin couldn't help but wonder if Cam was really trying to give him what he thought Dustin wanted or if he was trying to get him to break up with him by giving him what he knew was the exact _opposite_ of what he needed.

And it _hurt_.

The idea- the possibility hurt, and the fact that Dustin _thought_ of it hurt but once it was there it refused to leave, dancing an Irish jig around his brain, and he couldn't take his mind off of it. If _this_ was how Cam saw Dustin he really should break it off now because it was like an awful parody of a human being, the language and actions all exaggerated and his voice way too loud. It was like a joke, but Dustin wasn't laughing, and as far as he could tell no one else was either.

There should be rules, that if you wanted something you should just come out and say it, or ask it, or do something besides _completely change your personality for no obvious reason_.

Dustin didn't notice how tightly he'd wound his arms across his chest until Shane draped an arm over his shoulders. The tension was obvious and he tried to breathe it out, like they did in training, but it was harder to do than it should have been. He hated new Cam, he hated new Cam and he was pretty sure Shane hated new Cam too.

The world went on around him, Cam kept surfing on the waves and Shane kept an arm around him. Hunter and Blake were still on standby trading jokes and casual barbs, but all Dustin could hear was the chaos in his head. He couldn't surrender to it, because he knew it was an overreaction and he needed to hold still and evaluate the situation and _then_ make a choice (which was a lesson that had taken him a painful amount of time and numerous failures to learn) and not give into his emotions. He couldn't lash out right now. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Sensei had taught him better, and maybe things could change.

Maybe he could get Old Cam back.

-:-:-:-:-:-

As amusing as Cam's abrupt personality one-eighty was, the novelty was beginning to wear off and Hunter couldn't help but feel that New Cam was a bit of a dick.

And yeah, that was about all he felt about the matter.

Well, _that_ and the growing irritation of losing at a sport he was really _, really_ good at, and knowing that Blake wouldn't stop whining about it once they got off the track.  But that was _nothing_ compared to what the rest of the team was feeling.

He couldn't decide if Shane got his obsessive need to over-complicate things and marinate in his own personal _angsting_ juices from Dustin, or if the yellow ranger had simply osmosed it from the red ranger, because right now the mechanic was stirring up a whole mess of unpleasant feelings that would put even the most temperamental depression-consumed individual to shame.

It was actually rather impressive.

Hunter had taken a moment to simply…‘appreciate it’ made him sound like an ass (and he was but, you know, he should at least _try_ to be decent) so he supposed that saying he just acknowledged it would have to do, because really, Dustin was grieving badly.

Not that Hunter could blame him.

It figured that once their team managed to sort out some semblance of balance with each other (everyone had _someone_ to turn to, even if Hunter had to unwillingly drag Shane kicking and pridefully _not_ -screaming) that someone would go and do something remarkably _stupid_ to ruin it. It just had to be done at some point. Though he honestly expected it to be his brother because Cam had _way_ too many screw ups lately. He should have been relationship-problemed out by now, and sometimes Hunter thought that the tech just stayed up late into the hours of the night inventing new ways to screw with the rest of them.

It was almost like Cam was having a mid-life crisis thirty years too soon. Perhaps all the stress of saving the world plus the combined epiphany of _"Why yes, Dustin does bring me jollies"_ may have brought on some kind of mental break down, which also seemed appropriate. It made sense, given the job. Now that Hunter had thought about it, he was honestly surprised this hadn't happened to any of them sooner. Maybe Shane was just a scraped knee away from becoming a ballroom dancer, or Tori a chipped nail from tagging graffiti, or something.

Blake was fine, Hunter had seen to that, but he would keep a closer eye on Shane. Just in case.

He was _really_ not a fan of ballroom dancing.

On a normal day Hunter would attribute a portion of the blame for this to Dustin, because he was the one in charge of keeping Cam sane and _not_ acting so incredibly dick-like, but right now he just didn't have the heart for it (yes, this shocked him too, but there it was). It wasn't Dustin's fault he had such a hard task in front of him, but he _was_ the one who knew Cam best.  Except for maybe Shane, but even he didn't look all that happy about this new turn of events.

Yes, there was much distress brewing there.

Shane was picking up all of Dustin's stray sorrow rays, and his face was most definitely sporting his _"the leader is not happy"_ look. Seriously, if Cam didn't come down from his mind trip soon _someone's_ brain was going to shatter and the mushy explosion thereafter was not going to be a pleasant clean up for _anybody_. Hunter was a realistic guy, he knew the signs, knew it was going to happen eventually because of the not-looks that kept passing between Cam and Shane and the not-dating happening between Blake and Tori.  He knew it was inevitable; he just didn't want the catalyst to be something _this_ ridiculous.

Really, was that too much to ask?

That was it; he was having a nice, long chat with Cam after this little afternoon foray was over. The kid gloves needed to come off, and as much as Shane and Dustin probably wanted to tackle this and have an all out feeling-fest, Hunter thought a little frank heart-to-heart would probably go over a _lot_ better. That and a sharp smack to the head (kick in the balls). Hunter would let the tech know in completely unfriendly words (okay, so he was still a little miffed about the fact that Cam was currently wiping the floor with him at his own game) how this stupidity must cease and desist.

He was really dying to know what had happened to make this whole chain of events _be_. Did Cam hit his head?

Well…yes, he did early during training, but it hadn't been any different from when the rest of them had gotten smacked around.

Maybe this was one of Lothor's monsters in action.

See, that made sense. Tori had told Blake about this one time Lothor had made an evil clone of her, so perhaps this was something like that. Then again, while Cam's new wardrobe was painfully awkward (Hunter had every intention of stealing that beanie first chance he got for the sake of humanity) the green ranger's usual attire was put together so haphazardly through benign negligence that this _could_ be Cam's sorry attempt at "cool". Hunter could see that, see the entire thought process behind it. It was like Cam tried so hard to research the pieces and was like, _"Yeah, jersey and camo are totally in, and that beanie thing, it will totally work"_ except with a lot more multi-syllable words and biting sarcasm.

As big as Cam was on self-inflicted pain, Hunter was really starting to lean towards the idea of monster-tampering here.

Maybe he got hit by a ray gun.

_Or_ he got hit in the head and _then_ got hit with a ray gun.

Or maybe a monster hit him with a ray gun and then hit him in the head, or maybe it was a spell, or a potion, or voodoo…

The list went on, but now that Hunter had thought of it he couldn't see past it, knowing in his gut that he couldn't be wrong. Unfortunately he couldn't do anything about it until evil-maybe-under-a-spell Cam decided to start wreaking havoc (of the bodily harm kind, as opposed to this psychological warfare he was currently employing) that went beyond schooling them at their respective sports. If the monster's goals were to hurt their feelings, he’d managed to succeed, though it had very little to do with his physical victories and everything to do with new Cam's very unpleasant disposition.

As sure as he was Hunter didn't want to give Dustin any false hope on the off-hand chance he was wrong. He was pretty sure he wasn't, but with all the…sorrow that was getting generated over there Hunter wanted to be a hundred percent positive (shut up, he could have a soul). There was no sense in dealing out any more damage just because he had a theory. That doubled for Shane too. As much as he'd deny it (though the red ranger never had aloud, because Hunter had never asked him) Shane held Cam in very high regard, and this tomfoolery (Blake won't get off that stupid word this week) was hurting him just as badly as it was hurting Dustin.

Hunter would try to broach the subject later when all this was over, though he could almost guarantee that no progress would be made. Their fearless leader was a freaking brick wall when it came to most things of the touchy-feely variety and Hunter wasn't exactly a pro when it came to managing them either which could lead to…mixed results. Maybe the unconventional would be exactly what Shane needed to get dragged out of his funk. 

But that was a problem for the future.  Right now he had an evil-clone-hypnotized-head-smashed-super-talented Asian to keep an eye on. And a headache with a promise that it would steadily grow as the day progressed.

So really, it was just another Saturday.

-:-:-:-:-:-

So while there had been a lot of things Shane hadn't liked about New Cam (like his complete disregard for Dustin, and respect, and manners, and normal team function, and **_arg_** -) the whole abandoning-them-mid-fight was kind of taking the cake right now.

To be honest, he was beginning to get so mad he couldn't even think straight anymore.

In a way this was a small blessing. Not that losing Dustin and Tori to an evil perfume lady was ever a good thing, or losing anyone to _any_ monster was ever a good thing, but the exchange so thoroughly rocked his world that he finally snapped out of the fog he had been dragged into as soon as the whole ‘Cam-saying-dude-and-totally-meaning-it’ thing had started happening and went back to doing his freaking _job_. His entire afternoon had been spent in a confused daze where his eyes processed everything that was going on but his brain was stirring up a traffic jam because of its inability to make sense of it. The only thing he really noticed was how upset Dustin was getting about the entire affair, so Shane had chosen to focus on comforting _him_ as opposed to puzzling out the riddle that was Cam-the-surfer-dude.

So the green ranger couldn't totally take the blame for this, Shane supposed. He should've expected something like this was going to happen. He _should've_ been prepared, he _should've_ watched Cam closer, he _should've_ been watching Dustin's back...

But what was done was done, and the worst part was that Hunter didn't even look remotely surprised by this, which meant the blond had smelled something fishy from the start but hadn't acted on it. Something about the way the crimson ranger carried his shoulders told Shane that he was just as miffed about losing Dustin and Tori as Shane was (were it possible) and they would probably have a great good time beating themselves up over it later.

_Later_ , as in, _not now._

Now Shane had some unpleasant business to attend to, like delivering a smack down to the one ranger he'd been mildly avoiding for the past few weeks.

Which would have been a lot more successful if said ranger showed any sign of caring, or even _listening_.

This was not sitting well with Shane.  Cam wasn't even paying him any attention, he didn't seem to care, he was just lying there, completely unaffected, and for once Hunter had to play the cool-headed one and keep Shane and Blake from unleashing some serious damage because _this_ was completely unacceptable.

It was almost like Cam had been transformed into another person, except this new person was a complete downgrade in every sense and didn't care about the team or fighting or _Dustin_.  It was a joke and Shane didn't want to think about it (which was how he dealt with the alarming amount of Cam-related problems nowadays) so he lifted the burden off of himself and slipped into the ever familiar "leader mode", choosing to pull all his focus on the simple task of saving Dustin and Tori.

He would leave Sensei to deal with Cam, or Hunter (since he seemed so fond of being a shoulder to cry on), or maybe he would grow a spine and finally confront Cam like he had so many times before the green ranger started dating his best friend. Ultimately, it didn't matter. That was something that had to be dealt with later.

Right now he had bigger and more important fish to fry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cyber Cam's finally reared his ugly head and everybody's got an opinion about it.
> 
> Except the blue rangers, because they were too busy dancing off screen. Seriously, look over there, they're dancing!
> 
> Until next time :)


	25. Poor Wand'ring One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own The Pirates of Penzance. But if I did, that would be awesome. Oh, and if you're going to listen to it, youtube Helen Donaldson's version because she is a beast.

Alright, he was angry; Shane could admit that.  Hell, they were all pretty angry. Blake looked like he was pretty much two levels of affronted above everyone else present (with the exclusion of Cam; the real Cam that was, but Shane would get back to that later) and Hunter was doing that thing were he was simmering with rage but was only allowing _just_ a little bit to seep through, like a terrifying taste of the untapped fury boiling beneath the surface.

And Shane was mad, but he had switched targets from what he was mad about three seconds ago and had shifted from a nicely conjured-up fury into a more irksome, perturbed state and the sudden change wasn't really doing his nerves justice.

Still…freaking _clones_.

He should've seen this crap coming, he really should have. If Lothor's monster was likely to listen (because she was probably just around the corner), Shane would've called for a time out so he could go and smash his head against the wall a couple of times at the utter stupidity of it all. By the time that urge had passed and explanations were handed out, Shane had discovered that yeah, he was still angry because it really _was_ Cam's fault. This had been major ball dropage - not a mild fumble, but a complete and total _"I lost the ball in an alternate dimension, oops!"_ kind of lapse of judgment/blatant failure that was going to give them all ulcers one day.

Shane didn't even bother contemplating the possibility that Cam had come up with this idea sober, because seriously, his brain, kind of crying right now.

And the red ranger had really wanted this to be Lothor's fault, because if it was Lothor's fault he could clap Blake on the back and let him really cut loose and they could all joke about it later but _no_ , Cam had simply lost control of his cyber duplicate.  Which begged the question of why the hell did he make a copy of _himself_? He couldn't make someone up to prevent these kinds of shenanigans from happening? No one would have cared if Sally Madeupname started running amuck.

So, quick recap of ten seconds ago; everyone was mad at Cam. Now, a quick recap of _three_ seconds ago, and everyone was _still_ mad at Cam.

You had to be a certain kind of _special_ to manage to pull that off, you really did.

It was unanimously decided that they would all rag on Cam for this later, after the day had been saved and they had retrieved their damsels and everyone could go home happy, except Cam, because he was going to be put in the metaphorical time out. There were other angry rants to be thought out but the perfume lady showed back up and they _were_ in charge of saving the world so they begrudgingly went back to doing that.

But Cam was still stupid.

Even if he technically wasn't.

That should be far less infuriating than it actually was.

-:-:-:-:-:-

There was nothing _quite_ like being the undisputed object of group resentment. There was no rehearsal of the simultaneous looks of disfavor and were it not aimed at _him_ Cam would have applauded Shane, Hunter, and Blake's dedication to expressing their displeasure. Pointing out that their attempts would forever pale in comparison to his own self loathing would only serve to antagonize them further; and while he was one for efficient living, Cam figured he could allow this exercise in excessive emoting. At least as excessive as they were willing to be without someone dying, which to the untrained eye didn't vastly differ from their usual - in Dustin terms - "angry faces."

Said yellow ranger and Tori were much more forgiving than the others, choosing to find humor in his experiment-gone-astray instead of anger. While they had yet to fill him in on the exact details of Cyber Cam's performance he had a distinct feeling he was, how do you say it, ‘a bit of a tool’. That was if Dustin's timid yet persistent clinging was any indication. Once his boyfriend discovered Cam would not turn him away (on discovering Cyber Cam's reluctance at intimate interaction Cam was both grateful and infuriated, more for the effects than the actual action), Dustin had perked up immediately, defending his intentions and shooting threatening glances in Blake's direction to clearly express his disapproval for harm coming in Cam's direction which was…quite a nice change, compared to the rest of the day.

Cam had almost forgotten to look sorry after that, slipping on a humble mask when the threats of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

Tori had a handle on Blake as she guided him out the door, promising a quiet evening alone and successfully taking care of the greatest of the offended parties. Luckily by this point, Shane and Hunter had sensed that further criticism would be a waste as Cam's focus had come and gone. Eventually they made their exit as well, Shane sending him one final glance over his shoulder as they left.

There was something hidden there, something that Cam would probably never be able to discern, and his stomach dropped out for a second; the haze of Dustin momentarily drowned out in a second of unrestrained clarity.

Shane looked away and the moment ended, and Cam forced Dustin back into his world.

Bright, glowing, wonderful Dustin.

-:-:-:-:-:-

As far as days went, that one had been a long one, and despite the fact they hadn't actually done that much fighting, Shane was glad for it to be over. In fact, he had been so relieved that he had readily accepted Hunter's invitation for pizza over at his place which…should have seemed a lot weirder than it _was,_ but he was never one to turn down pizza and he could really use the distraction.

From the judging look Hunter spared them all before making his offer, eyes locked hard on his, Shane was willing to bet this was his reasoning behind as well. It wasn't until later, when they had actually gotten settled in (alone because Blake was re-pledging his love to Tori over a "celebratory" dinner that was repeatedly denied as a date - that was totally a date) that Shane began to question his choice. He had no read on Hunter, who was occupied by scouring the kitchen for clean drinking glasses, but if the familiar sag of his shoulders was anything to go by, Shane would say that he was about as relaxed as the crimson ranger ever allowed himself to be. The skater took a page from his book and slumped deeper into the ratted couch, boneless, pushing away his worries for now.

They would still be there later.

When he opened his eyes Hunter was putting down two of his successfully-acquired cups brimming with soda, thudding against the cheap coffee table with practiced carelessness. The foam tilted precariously but sloshed back in before it could spill over the edge, leaving the top murky but the sides clean. If Shane wasn't so tired he would have nagged Hunter about how perfectly he managed his attempts at being casual, but his head hurt so instead he just sent the blond an appreciative look because he _knew_ that the other had probably practiced something as small as almost-spilling drinks for an unnecessarily long amount of time and _someone_ should acknowledge it.

Or maybe he was just getting paranoid.

It was Hunter, so that was doubtful. 

Yeah, Shane was beginning to catch on to this guy.

Hunter ignored his courtesy because he was Hunter, and Shane just sighed and reached for his glass, careful not to jar the cheap plastic. The crimson ranger followed in suit, though the relaxed air was kind of ruined by his undisguised staring as he took a sip of his own drink, thoroughly examining all that was Shane over the lip of his glass.

So much for this being purely a distraction.

Hunter was completely unapologetic when Shane finally met his inquisitive gaze, like he knew the red ranger was aware he had other motives for this little rendezvous and he respected Shane too much to try and put up a front that said otherwise.  It was…refreshing. Shane had to take a moment to appreciate the honesty that was being shown here, though things like "Hunter" and "honesty" and "nice" weren't something he had ever come to expect to come together in his mind. 

Still, there it was.

"So," Hunter began when it became obvious that Shane wasn’t in a particularly chatty mood. "Are we going to talk about this or what?"

The blond tilted his head innocently and the red ranger took a moment to hate him for the lack of specifics. Or maybe it was because of the lack of necessity for being specific because Shane was completely aware of what he was referring to; he just didn't want to talk about it.

The Air ninja frowned and made a disinterested noise into his drink, using it as a distraction until he could think of a polite way to tell Hunter to shove it. Just because they'd been hanging out for a couple of days didn't give him personal access to all of Shane's inner workings. He was _not_ going to allow this to turn this into some sort of feeling-fest so Hunter could psychoanalyze him for "the good of the team".

_Pff_ , really, it was more likely that it was for the good of Hunter’s entertainment, Shane was beginning to think.  Or at least, that was what the blond was selling it to himself as.  After what had happened with Dustin and Cam, it wouldn’t surprise Shane that the crimson ranger was keeping his distance.  A part of him liked to think this was the blond’s disillusioned attempt at being helpful without ever having to risk his own feelings on the matter. 

Maybe.  Or maybe Shane was under-rating the Bradley’s character based on the very few interactions they’d had.

Again, it was doubtful.  Hunter had acted _way_ too nonchalant after his discovery of being led-on by Cam and ditched by Dustin.  Either he hadn’t cared that much to begin with, or he was convincing himself he hadn’t cared that much to begin with. 

Or he was distracting himself with Shane.  Or all-of-the-above.  They were options.

Shane promised his silence to himself a few extra times just for good measure before he glanced back over in the blond's direction, though it turned out he must not have been that subtle with what was running through his mind because it looked like super-crying- heart-to-heart was the last thing Hunter wanted to do either.

He let out a laugh before he could think too hard about it and Hunter glared at him in retaliation, looking refreshingly awkward as his fingers tapped against the edge of his cup. It _could_ have been an act, but by this point in their relationship Shane was going to give Hunter the benefit of the doubt because you could only save a guys life _so_ many times before the whole _"suspicion of screwing someone over for personal amusement"_ became out of line.  Messing with them for personal amusement, maybe, but not for actual harm.

Strangely enough, Hunter seemed like he was legitimately trying to be helpful. He’d seen a problem and was1 trying to address it before things got out of hand (as they tended to do when it came to their team, because they were just especially incompetent like that).

Granted, it wasn't in an area the blond was really comfortable with, but he was trying.  At least, as much as one could try while pretending to not give a damn.

Shane didn't know whether he should be disturbed that things seemed so bad that _Hunter_ of all people felt the need to have a heart-to-heart or if he should be touched, so he tried for a medium ground that allowed him to accept Hunter's care but still play on the defensive because…

Well, old habits died hard.

"There's nothing to talk about." Which wasn't going to serve as a very strong point in the argument so Shane decided to compromise and added, "I'm fine."

Because he was totally fine. See, this was his "fine" face. It _might_ look a lot like his regular brooding face but it was completely different because he was fine and therefore he could only have a "fine" face on and-

Hunter raised a single eyebrow at him, a look that completely called him out on his bull and Shane averted his eyes so he could focus on not-squirming.

"I do believe your pants are on fire," the blond murmured, joke enough of a deviation from his normal behavior that Shane looked back again, pondering the possibilities of a second cyber duplicate. Hunter had enough decency to look embarrassed by his awful ploy as well and he distracted himself with a sip of his drink, tips of his ears burning. And Shane did _not_ stare at them until Hunter snapped his head back in his direction, annoyed by all the not-staring he was doing.

It was almost like Backwards-land.

It was his turn to look abashed and he gingerly coughed into his hand, scrambling for a comeback.

"What are you, five?"

He felt the retaliation because he was still not looking Hunter's way, and a crumpled up napkin bounced off the side of his head. By the time he glanced back up Hunter was back to looking completely innocent, if mildly peeved.

"Cam," Hunter explained, seeming to have lost patience with Shane's stonewalling, causing the red ranger to go still. "Dustin freaking out I understand, but you were-"

Shane cut him off before he could get too deep into what was clearly none of his business. "I'm the leader-"

"You were way past a leader's concern-"

"He's my friend-"

Hunter shot him a disbelieving look.  "Yeah, you were past 'friend' angsting too."

"Says you," Shane spat, all that anger dragging itself back up to the surface.

Why had he agreed to come here?

Hunter looked as annoyed as he was, frustrated by the lack of _feeling_ pouring out of Shane's heart. 

_Yeah, sorry, this must not be that entertaining for you._

"You can lie to them if you want," the blond spat, venom in his tone. "But you and I both know-"

"So you get to call the shots now?" Shane barked back, rising to his feet- and he really should stop and get a hold of himself; he really should focus but it was just so _nice_ not to keep it bottled in all the time.

The crimson ranger changed to higher ground as soon as he did, never allowing them to break eye contact. "What the hell is your problem?"

And that was the million dollar question wasn't it? That was the big one, the jackpot, the grand key in unlocking all the anger that was Shane, and the words spilled out before he could even think of how to properly express them, before he could remember who he was talking to, tumbling from his mouth in an unorganized mob of chaos.

"I couldn't _do_ anything!" he yelled finally, fists clenched so tightly into his sides that it hurt. "And it's not that I couldn't foresee this happening, or that I couldn't stop Dustin and Tori from getting kidnapped. It's that I finally thought Cam and I were friends and he threw it all away! And now he won't even talk to me or ask for help or whatever-the-hell Cam would ever need and then things like _this_ happen and I can't just reach out and talk to him because apparently that's not allowed anymore!"

He gulped a few quick breaths and shook his head angrily, turning back to Hunter with bright eyes. 

This was stupid; it wasn’t like Hunter even really _cared_ , but on the off-hand chance he did, if he actually really wanted in to something other than detached acquaintanceship Shane was going to have to keep going, to be the one to reach out first and treat Hunter like an actual, you know, _friend_.

He finished his speech carefully, opening up this bitter, painfully bare part of himself as a gesture of trust. 

"All I would have needed to do was talk to that stupid replicant for like, five seconds, max, and I would have known it wasn't Cam. But all I could do was sit back and think that maybe this was just some crisis he was having and that Dustin would have to help him through it and…" he fumbled, suddenly spent and out of words and he looked at Hunter desperately to see if the blond could make any sense of it.

And then he had to snicker, because the look on Hunter's face was highly reminiscent of someone getting an icy bucket of water dumped on them; sudden and unexpected and a little bit confused.

Shane was tired enough to admit that he found it a little endearing.

The snicker turned into a laugh which earned him a full fledged glare, and Shane plopped himself back down on the couch, more relaxed than he had been in days.

Sure, he could look at this as a horrific mistake because never in a million years had he suspected that he would be unloading onto _Hunter_ of all people, but he felt strangely safe.

Even, dare he say, at home.

If it _was_ Backwards land, it wasn't that bad a place to be.

-:-:-:-:-:-

As much as Hunter would _like_ to think he was good at logic and planning and that his years of ninja training were enough to prepare him for anything and that he really _had_ been expecting some kind of strong emotional response, he honestly couldn't say that any of _that_ had prepared him for _this_ particular reaction.

Which was stupid; in the way that having a theory and watching it get destroyed by reality was stupid. Or maybe that was just his bitterness talking.

Well, it wasn't like his minimal whining was going to help with the matter at hand, but still, ninja angst.

It was like regular angst, but with _ninjas_.

"So…" Hunter began steadily, once Shane had stopped laughing. "What I'm getting from this-" and what everyone should be getting from this if they weren't so busy taking interest in butterflies and cyber duplicants and _not_ dating people. "-is that you and Cam are experiencing some relationship problems."

Hell, shoot him _now_.  Hunter had not picked up this new hobby just so he could start talking about freakin’ _Cam_ again.

Whatever, it was bound to come with the territory anyway.  If Shane was going to be his new time-killer, Hunter would have to at least pretend to be a decent enough human to help with this kind of crap.  He was vaguely aware this was the kind of favor people who liked each other extended one another.

Based on the growing frown on Shane's face, Hunter could tell that he probably could have worded his response in a more delicate way that would have better appeased the leader's manliness, but that was an awful lot of effort and so far being anything _but_ blunt and direct really didn't work for any of these people, so Hunter just put on his _“suck it up"_ face and decided to continue before the other ranger could think of complaining and pull them off track again.

"I'm also going to go ahead and assume-" And he already knew this because the forced hang-outs were not done on a whim. "-that this probably started immediately after he started dating Dustin."

And yep, they were now in full-fledged frowny-world.

At least Shane had stopped glaring; it wasn't like Hunter was the one who started this.

Okay, in a way he kinda _did_ with the whole making-out-with-Dustin thing, but how was he supposed to know that was going to be so poorly received?  He had been getting goddamn green lights all around, and Hunter would know; he had run this shit by Blake (kind of- sort of- in a very vague, hypothetical quandary that _still_ had his younger brother giving him the pity-eyes).

Shane nodded absently, running a hand through his hair with a belabored sigh, which was outstandingly expressive for him, before giving Hunter a sad look. The expression was a familiar one, and it confirmed two things. One, that Shane didn't know what he had done to earn the cold shoulder from Cam and two, that he _wanted_ to do something about it, but wasn't sure if it would make things worse by doing so.

_Shit_ , Hunter was getting to know these people too well.  Screw it; he would shove this under the category ‘crap that could help me later’ and move on.  It was true, at the very least.  It wasn’t like it could hurt him.

_Alrighty then, no need to panic.  Let’s move on._

Shane probably thought in some bizarre way that this null-contact thing was exactly what Cam wanted and the very act of confronting him about it would like…show his disrespect, or something.

_Ugh_ , who was he kidding?  Hunter had no idea why Shane hadn't just grown a pair and confronted Cam about it. It would have been faster and probably a lot less stressful (and definitely more satisfying). Then again, it would have also probably been a good way to disrupt the team, at least for a little bit, so Hunter supposed he _kind_ of understood why Shane was being all noble and self-sacrificing. Unless the problem would only get worse with time, in which case he was being _stupid_.

Shane cleared his throat suddenly, breaking Hunter out of his reverie.

"I don't know what I did," he murmured, plucking at the material of his shorts, and _ugh_ , this was what _he_ must have sounded like that one time he complained to Sensei Omino after Blake refused to talk to him for a week. It turned out Hunter had accidentally broken one of his…he couldn't even remember what it was now, but eventually he had gotten sick of it and forced Blake into a headlock until he started talking again.

Maybe Shane should try that.

There was another desolate sigh, and Hunter forced himself back on track, reevaluating his goals for this particular chat.

Goal number one; make Shane feel better.

…yep, that was seriously his goal.  Fa-bu-lous.  Blake would be so proud.

_Don’t think about it, just- Don’t think about it._

It would be easier that way.

The goal was pretty broad in itself; vague, but doable. All Hunter had to do was let Shane unwind, or cut loose, or just talk it out, or do whatever he needed to do to feel better about it. Hunter pretended to think about it intently, rubbing his chin as Shane stared dejectedly at his shoes, seemingly dead to the world.

What did Shane (a normal person) need?

Did he need to talk it out ( _please no)_? Work through it _(see previous statement)_? Retrace his past steps to find out what went wrong _(there was no way Hunter was going to win this)_?

Hunter stared at him some more, as though the answer would suddenly write itself across Shane's face.

When the miserable silence continued he opted for some minor prodding before they went to the more drastic measure of hunting Cam down and sitting on him until he explained himself.

On second thought, Hunter should just skip to that part.  It would be way more rewarding-

Cue his conscious, sounding suspiciously like Blake, telling him to at least _try_ to talk it out. 

_Fine_ , but that didn’t mean that Hunter had to try _hard_.

"Can you think of anything you might have done-?"

And apparently that was enough to start him up again ( _damn it_ ) because Shane was on his feet in an instant, hands running through his hair wildly.

"That's just it, I've been thinking about it and I _can't_ -" he cut off in what appeared to be partly from frustration and partly from having to glare at the coffee table for having the audacity to come in the way of his shins. "I was taking care of him!" the skater exclaimed, navigating away from the offending table and making it to the safety of the window.  Hunter suspected he was aiming towards something that _probably_ couldn't hurt him, but who knew. "I made sure he ate, I made sure he was rested, I made sure he bathed…" And pointing out that treating another person like a pet was probably not the best way to win them over wasn't going to win _him_ any points, so Hunter kindly kept that to himself. "I even slept with him so he could-"

"Wait," Hunter interrupted, holding up a warning hand as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think I'm beginning to see what the problem is."

It was probably the sex thing.

Hunter wasn't surprised that Shane hadn't thought that the friends-with-benefits option would turn out badly (but he wanted to give the guy props for trying anyway, because there was something you had to admire about that in a person), but he was allowed to insult Shane for the next _week_ for not thinking that their relationship coming to an end and Cam's silence had nothing to do with each other. He didn't even want to try to fathom _what_ the dark-skinned teen's end game had been…unless his goal was to get Cam to loosen up, in which case, he’d failed considerably. The question of exactly how consensual their meet up had been also came to mind, but Hunter pushed it aside for later, because, you know, one thing at a time.

But also, seriously Cam, you _fucking whore_.  If Tori hadn’t captured Blake’s heart so thoroughly, Hunter would have locked his brother up for to keep him safely out of reach of the tech’s grubby hands. 

Well, least that answered the question of Shane's sexuality.

And to think, he had been playing so hard to get.

"So," Hunter asked, rubbing the side of his head, exasperated. "When did the sex start?"

Not that it was entirely relevant, but he honestly wanted to know how big a slut Cam actually was.

Oddly enough, and despite the fact that he and Shane had a silent agreement to be frank with each other (as much as Hunter could be frank), the red ranger's reaction was incredibly odd, with a lot of flailing and falling and wild staring. They both blinked in confusion, clearly missing whatever the other teen was having issue with.

Shane opened and shut his mouth a couple of times, flat-out gaping before he apparently remembered how to use his vocal cords again.

"What?" he asked, indignant, causing Hunter to roll his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

The blond cocked his head sideways, attempting to discern the motive behind Shane's odd reaction.

"The sex," he reiterated, nice and slow so the other ranger wouldn't get confused. He swore talking to Shane was like talking to a puppy sometimes; you had to be extra nice and patient with them just so you could get them to stop peeing on things. And since he was feeling extra generous, he went ahead and retraced his mental connections for Shane. "I'm pretty sure that's what 'I slept with him' translates as, unless of course, you meant you _literally_ slept _by_ him, but even you're not-"

And the words kind of dried up in the blond’s mouth because holy hell, that was _exactly_ what Shane had meant, and then Hunter had to fight off the very tempting urge to throw his soda at his still-in-training ranger-puppy.

It didn't help that Shane seemed to be still reeling from the sex comment, but Hunter refused to feel any guilt over the possible damage that he’d caused because the red ranger had brought _that_ on himself.

"You couldn't think of a better way to phrase that?" Hunter snapped, before he remembered he was supposed to be supportive and shit.

Luckily, it worked, and Shane was back to glaring at him in no time, picking himself back off of the floor (metaphorically speaking).

"I thought it was obvious," he groused, brushing off some imaginary dust. "I already told you, I'm not gay."

Hunter's fingers twitched as he silently evaluated the pros and cons of throwing the soda. Of _course_ Shane wasn't gay; he only let Dustin hang all over him and slept with Cam and never looked at other girls because he was _totally a nice guy._

The worst part of that sentence was that it was entirely plausible, despite Hunter's doubts.

Still, that was a battle for another day.

"Whatever," Hunter replied, waving a hand vaguely so they could focus on the more important stuff. "How exactly did you come to this…arrangement?"

Because there was no other word for it; he bet Cam had even made up flow charts and diagrams and a schedule or something, or worse… Shane had done it for him.

This team was so weird.

Shane took a moment to think it over as he settled back onto the couch, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I went to check up on him once and found him passed out over his keyboard, so I decided to put him to bed.” He paused for a moment, eyes staring off at something into the distance. "When I laid him down he wouldn't let go of my shirt, and when I tried to make him let go…" he trailed off, eyes pathetically sad. “He asked me to stay." He turned to look at Hunter, stupidly caring and strong. "He was so lonely Hunter, I just-"

"Couldn't leave him like that?" the Thunder ninja offered, trying not to wince at the cliché. It was unavoidable though; Shane was a walking Boy Scout stereotype. It was like the world had overcompensated for all of Lothor's evil by finding as much excess good there could possibly be and stuffing it all into the red ranger, giving him his _rainbow glitter charm_. It was sickening.

Hunter made a mental note to never get on the other ranger's "To Help" list.  There was no way he would be able to stomach it.

Shane nodded, smile in place as though he could read Hunter's thoughts, and the crimson ranger moved on, "And then you kept coming back, whether he wanted it or not?"

Because that was what Shane would do.  He was _that_ kind of asshole.

"Yeah," he murmured, leaning back.

"But now he has Dustin, so he doesn't need you anymore."

A sadder, more hushed, "Yeah."

Hunter looked at him closely, sensing the defeat. "Do you miss it?"

From what he could tell Shane liked feeling needed and this here?  This was the epitome of need. Though beyond that selfish pretense, there was actually a deeper loss. Real mourning over a broken relationship made whatever Shane had gained from this experience worthless, because at the end of the day, he really cared about Cam (though why he did, Hunter would never know). And now not only did Cam no longer need him; apparently he didn't _want_ him either. Or perhaps it was just the opposite, and he wanted him a little _too_ much. Either way, that was a conversation Hunter and Cam were going to have to have later. 

You know, whenever Hunter could stand to look at him without wanting to take a swing at his head.

Meanwhile, outside the confines of his thoughts, Shane had started back up again.

"I miss talking to him," he admitted, rubbing a slow circle on the side of his face. "It may have taken awhile, but Cam is my friend."

_Though you thought he was your brother_ , Hunter silently added, achingly familiar with a family in mourning.

Shane laughed suddenly, smirking at Hunter sideways. "I can't believe you thought I was having sex with him."

_I can't believe you **didn't** have sex with him_.

It would have made a lot more sense.

The blond shrugged instead, tilting his head cockily. "It seemed like a reasonable conclusion to draw."

More laughter, "Only because your mind's in the gutter."

Hunter frowned again, tossing another wadded up napkin in the other teen’s direction. He wasn't entirely offended; it seemed the sex-shark branding was unavoidable at this point (despite the fact that Cam totally had him beat) so he refused to let it bother him. Besides, it seemed to lift Shane's spirits, and the crimson ranger would take what he could get. Further progress on this front would be halted until Hunter spoke with Cam.  Until then he would have to settle for providing Shane with a happy distraction.

Because that was what friends did, right?

Right.

There was no reason to contemplate this any further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was back when I was making Hunter a semi-sane, reasonable person, before his ultimate spazzyness came into effect. It’s amusing.
> 
> Thanks to Coolkid_Banana for the comment, and reminding me that this story still isn't finished. Supportive nudges are always helpful, as I tend to get magpie-like distracted. Shiny things are not safe near me ;P
> 
> Until next time :)


	26. Spread a Little Sunshine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I may have catered to the Cam/Hunter fans out there, but it was totally on accident.

"So," Hunter began, not bothering with simple things like pleasantries or opportunities for Cam to derail the conversation. "I need you and Shane to make up."

The tech deigned to grace him with a perturbed look before returning his attention back to the…thingy in his hands, giving it a few well placed stabs (or perhaps executing a very technical procedure that just _looked_ like stabbing) before abandoning his screw driver altogether, reaching for a pair of green handled pliers resting against the table.

Hunter almost sighed in disappointment, but chose instead to throw a glare at the back of the green ranger's head. The least Cam could do was look a _tiny_ bit surprised by his intrusion, or miffed about his comment on other's relationship with a certain red ranger, or _aggravated_ at his standard blunt approach to conversation, or maybe he could have dredged up some of that anger Hunter knew the tech had reserved especially for him because of the whole made-out-with-the- _lurve_ -of-his-life thing, but this entire cold-shoulder, complete apathy was just kind of insulting.

He thought their relationship was worse than that.

Hunter must be losing his touch; usually he could get Cam mad at him with the simple act of being present. Now the green ranger was going to make him put forth some effort.

How awfully inconsiderate of him.

"So," Hunter began _again_ , sidling up beside Cam (past experience taught him that the green ranger was very strict about his personal bubble, but Hunter couldn't see any barbeque sauce nearby, so he figured he was cool) and leaned past his shoulder, staring at the side of his face intently. "You and Shane…"

He trailed off to allow the part of the green ranger that had that untamable desire to educate the ignorant to take over and fill in the rest, but Cam stubbornly refused, discarding his pliers for a wrench (what the hell was he building?).

Hunter stared on for a few more seconds, pondering the ramifications of leaning in closer, but decided not to push his luck. He settled his chin against Cam's shoulder, tilting his head to get a better view of the nuts and bolts of his doo-hicky.

"I'm not going to go away, you know," he informed him, tapping the metal lab table impatiently. "I don't have stuff to do."

He had taken care of that. Dustin had ever-so-helpfully taken over his shift at Storm Chargers (which Blake was going to complain about _forever_ because they could barely make ends meet as it was) and all Hunter had to do was casually mention to Shane that the red ranger and Dustin hadn't gotten a lot of "alone" time (but with much more coddling and definitely no use of the phrase “alone time”), and the guy was all over spending the afternoon in the shop, doing whatever it was he and Dustin normally did back there.

For the longest time Hunter had thought “it” was making out, but the epic levels of repression streaming off the two of them was enough to disprove _that_ particular theory.

Hunter was tempted to see how far he could push Cam, see how long it would take for the other to snap and address his presence so they could put aside their petty squabbles and get down to business. It wasn't fair; why did Cam have to be so easily aggravated? It was both a blessing _and_ a curse.

A blessing, because it was as amusing as hell to test him. A curse, because he was more liable to be punch-y ( _too much time with Dustin_ ) afterwards. Especially towards Hunter. And it wasn't like the crimson ranger couldn't take another punch to the face; he just didn't want to. Because, well, who liked getting punched in the face?

Did he dare, or did he not?

Was he a man, or a mouse?

Throwing caution to the wind, Hunter decided to go for it, sliding carefully behind the tech and purposefully pushing the other teen’s foot out (to make his crotch a less tempting target for kicking). He wrapped his arms about Cam's waist, burrowing his head against the other's neck so he could emulate Dustin's cuddling and _not_ because he ever kind of needed some physical interaction of his own. Not at all. If he did, there had to be better ways of getting it. Right now he would probably be better received by a polar bear than he would by Cam.

He smiled excitedly, unable to contain himself. _Now_ Cam would make some witty comment or try to elbow him in the face and then they could fight/exchange words and then he could get closer to achieving his make-Shane-feel-better plan, which was light-years ahead of Shane's make-Cam-feel-better plan in a way that only his awesome could manage.

Or at least that _would've_ been the case, had Cam reacted _at all_.

Hunter pulled his head back to look at the tech who was still…couldn't he just pick a tool and stick with it? What did the wrench ever do to him? If he was so smart why didn't he just invest in a multi-tool?

And why the hell was he still ignoring him?

What did he have to do, start dry humping him? Hunter wasn't that desperate. Really, he could cope, and he wasn't that suicidal either. If Cam wasn't dating Dustin (because the thunder ninja really liked that guy, it was almost impossible not to), Hunter probably would have risked frisking Cam, or groping him, to see how far the silent game would go, but he was pretty much at the end of his physical options.

That left plan number two, verbal instigation.

"I'm going to play under the assumption," he began, because no one was telling him anything and he needed to get his info _somehow_. "That you may or may not have strong emotional feelings for our very favorite red ranger."

The only response he received was a momentary delay in Cam's ratcheting, and immediate tension in his shoulders, but Hunter knew he was right.

It was a bold assumption, but the pieces added up if you took a step back and really looked at the situation. The timing made sense; if Shane really did everything he said he did it was entirely possible for Cam to develop feelings that were stronger than the cozy family vibe Shane had set out to make. Hunter couldn't blame the tech; Shane was a naturally likeable guy and he had been practically forcing himself on Cam. Through his screwed up understanding, Shane was helping keep Cam human, keep Cam healthy because he cared, and Cam took that caring and saw something deeper. Hunter didn't feel like delving into the territory of Cam always being gay as to Cam just loving Dustin and Shane - that was the green ranger's personal business - but he did need to establish some ground rules.

"And since you're not talking, I'm going to assume that I'm right," he murmured, locking his arms tighter around Cam's waist, a warning and a wake up call.

Cam snapped his head to the side instantly, not intimidated by blond's closeness. "That's none of your-"

"See," Hunter interrupted, knowing full well the next word would be ‘business’. "That's where you're wrong."

Cam glared, eyes narrowing in a controlled rage that would have been a lot more impressive if his hand wasn't twitching.

"I love Dustin," he declared, words calm, voice level, but tone subdued and dangerous as though daring Hunter to disagree.

He didn't.

"I know," Hunter said, because he did; anyone with half a brain could tell that.

Cam froze again, obviously thrown by his answer.

"I don't doubt that," Hunter elaborated. This needed to be thoroughly established so they wouldn't spend the next half hour focusing on it.

That wasn't what he was here for.

Cam accepted his answer, but shifted the conversation in the wrong direction anyway, "Then why are you-?"

Were they really going back to denial? He thought they were both smarter than this.

Hunter rolled his head to the side casually, allowing Cam to get a better look at him. "That doesn't mean you don't like Shane either."

Yeah, he said it; he said the "L" word. The blond didn't miss the sharp intake of air at his assertive statement, though he did give Cam credit for recovering quickly. The tech shifted in his arms, redistributing his weight as he reached out for his screwdriver, using the tool to focus his attention. A perfect plan to minimize unintended physical reactions.

Since he was probably going to end up interrupting whatever Cam was going to say next _anyway,_ Hunter steeled himself for the big dish, burying his lips against the skin just above the collar of Cam's shirt.

"Don't be selfish Cam," he whispered, hoping he didn't sound as ridiculously patronizing as he felt. "You can't have them both."

To be honest, the tech probably could. Odds were he could enrapture them both as easily as snapping his fingers (assuming Shane managed to pull his head out of his ass in anything less than five months) and then they would go off and be one happy unit of lovebirds who doted on each other in sickening ways.  Hunter could see that; polygamy was a thing and those three were just broken enough to reject societal expectations – or at least the majority was, and that would be all that mattered in the long run.

If Cam really wanted it, and Shane ever managed it (and Dustin would follow along – the more the merrier and all that shit), it could be done.

And yet, Hunter couldn't allow that option in his mind because…because that option left him with a hollow pit in his stomach, knowing that everyone else could be at their optimum levels of happiness while he got left alone in the dust. 

It was stupidly emotional in a way Hunter hadn’t had to deal with in a long time, selfish and… _depending_ , of all things, and Hunter added a note to the ‘Con’ column of hanging out with Shane so much, because this was not the type of bullshit Hunter needed to deal with anymore.  There were more important things in life than isolation, and loneliness was not an unfamiliar companion, so the fact that such a notion could bother him _now_ was a fact that was starting to tick him off.

Being alone had never bothered him before; people were unpredictable and uncontrollable and the moment you even surrendered the smallest part of yourself to someone else was the moment you painted a giant bulls eye on your chest and shouted, _"Kick me fate, kick me good"._

Staying disengaged was how you survived.

But now…

It was all their fault. Blake and Tori and Cam and Dustin being all lovey-dovey must have infected him. While he knew that the action of keeping Shane single wouldn't do anything to alleviate _his_ loneliness, it sure as hell would be nice to not be labeled as the team's depressing extra wheel. It was like being the ugly sister, or the fat cousin or something. Everyone thought they were swell as a person but they were never going to get any dates _ever_ so it pretty much sucked to be them and everyone else knew it.

Hunter was not going to let that happen to him (even if it was unarguable that he would never suffer from being “swell”).

Also, the idea of dating _one_ guy would probably take at least five months to sink into Shane's thick skull; Hunter didn't even want to think about how long it would take for _two_ guys. Cutting this thing off now before it got started would probably be best for everyone. No confusion, no drama, and no sad Dustin.

Because it was pretty much unanimous that if Dustin was ever sad the world was going to end.

Hunter didn't make the rule, he just knew it.

He was snapped back to reality by the sound of the screw driver hitting the table. It was the only warning he got before Cam decided he was all for trying the kick-Hunter-in-the-crotch game. When he realized the crimson ranger had his legs locked, Cam settled for a backhand to the face. The blond reluctantly abandoned his hold on the tech and ducked behind the green-clad teen. Once released, Cam whipped around mind numbingly fast and before he could get too punch-y or kick-y or stab-y, Hunter pressed forward, trapping the green ranger against the table.

Yeah, honestly he didn’t want to be all that close to this asshole if he could help it, but there was a modicum of satisfaction that came from the fact Cam was just as annoyed by the intrusion – perhaps more – and that in itself made it worth it.

The closeness might have been a risk, seeing as it could either instigate Cam or deter him, but Hunter was feeling lucky so he hoped for the latter, locking Cam's legs like he had earlier and grabbing on tightly to the lab table. He stared Cam dead in the eyes, foreheads touching, and started talking before they revisited their more violent pastimes.

He didn’t like this, he didn’t like this betrayer, he didn’t like that he had allowed himself to feel a hint of comradery with this _person_ , but he was here and he was in control, and he was going to lay down the fucking law.

"You can't-"

It was Cam who interrupted him this time, hands moving to fist against his collar. "What the hell do you know about love?"

Hunter didn't allow himself the time to think over Cam's accusation, because yeah, he knew shit about love, but working out the finer details of his understanding wasn't going to do jack diddly for _anybody_ so he bulled through his hesitations, staring at Cam hard.

"I know if you love him," he murmured, voice warning ridiculously more omniscient than he would ever really be- love, like it was _love_ \- "If you love _them_ ," he revised, moving his hands to Cam's waist for no reason other than pissing him off. "You'll let him go."

Yeah…that sounded like a line Cam would believe.  Hunter should have thought of it sooner, truthfully.  Cam was a vagrant wanderer in regards to his emotions on a good day; throw in things like Dustin and Shane’s insistent nosiness and of course he would convince himself it was love.  Hell, maybe it was, maybe Cam actually _loved_ Shane, in that ineffective, incomplete way the tech could actually manage, but by the end of it – if Hunter had a say in it (and he did, because he was an asshole and Cam didn’t get to take down everyone else because of his incompetence when approaching emotions) – it wouldn’t matter.

Cam had Dustin.  Dustin adored Cam.  There was a mutual devotion there so blatant and strong that Cam shouldn’t get to mess up.  That Dustin shouldn’t have to suffer its sanctity being threatened, and Shane…

If anyone was going to drag Shane over to the dark side, kicking and screaming, it was going to be Hunter, because he had put in the god damn hours.

Not that Hunter would ever actually do that, but if such an instance were to occur, he would prefer it be done by his own hands.

He figured Cam, with his infinite fuck ups, could give him that much.

Hunter wouldn't have noticed the faint trembling beneath his hands if he hadn't trained so long to notice the smallest details. Cam was grieving, sharing an ache that Hunter could never begin to understand. Two months ago he wouldn't have lost any sleep over the ramifications of his actions, especially the sore feelings his gruff manner tended to instigate. Two months ago he never would have thought that someone like Cam would be able to ruin him any more than the world already had.

But the present demanded different of him, and Cam _was_ hurt and confused and probably guilty and angry and indulging in every facet of the emotional spectrum and Hunter, cool, aloof, played-off-all-wrongs Hunter was hurting just a _tiny_ bit with him.

He would gladly stab anyone in the neck who so much as hinted as such, but if Hunter allowed himself a rare moment of honesty, he knew that he was.

He would never say it aloud, and beyond this moment he would never think it again, but Cam had wounded him (like, seriously, aside from the anger). Hunter had allowed himself to emotionally invest in the other ranger, however little, and that had come back to bite him _hard_.

For mixed reasons, they would probably never be able to forgive each other for that.

Still shaking, Cam released his hold on Hunter's collar, dropping his hands down to curl around the edge of the lab table.  He didn't lose Hunter's gaze, didn't retreat, he simply leaned forward carefully, speaking with absolute meaning, "I hate you."

The words echoed in Hunter's head, but he ignored any feelings they stirred up.

He answered back with the same brutal honesty that spoke from his very core. "I hate you too."

_I hate all of you_.

For making him care, for making him _want_ to care, for having any kind of sway of his emotions.

For stringing him along.

For giving him hope.

For taking that hope away.

_I hate you so much_.

That was it then, they knew where each other stood, with each other, with the team. Cam had his ultimatum; Hunter had his "peace of mind", and soon Shane would get his friend back, and they could all go back to skipping along the merry road of sunshine and lollipops.

Hunter tilted his head, no longer needing to appear purposely threatening, and went back to looking at the side of Cam's face, restraining his hand's desire to circle around the other's waist (hormones, hormones and proximity, that’s all it was). He _did_ give himself one thing, just one (because he secretly hated himself too), since they were being so nauseating and honest. Grip tight against the green ranger's hips, Hunter trailed his lips down and gently kissed Cam on the cheek. It was their romanticism poisoning his brain; it was their drama and urgent trysts with melodrama that pushed for him to go for it.

Before Cam could punch him or respond or think anything beyond _"Hunter. Jerk. Grrr."_ , the blond pulled back and threw on a cocky grin, slipping back into asshole-mode.

"Now be a good boy," he patronized, quickly earning that death-glare he had come to know and love, for however brief. "And play nice with Shane."

On that note he left, slipping out of Ninja Ops as quietly as he had arrived.

Cam wouldn't let him down. The tech wouldn't allow himself to.

And if he really “loved” Shane, he would stop treating him like such a dick.

Seriously, that was third grade stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	27. What Do I Need With Love?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Otherwise known as the chapter where Shane molests Hunter accidentally.

Shane felt like he was floating.

Which was weird, because even with all of his air ninja training he had never actually floated _per se_ , he had done plenty of hovering and gliding and air-running, but the act of floating had escaped him. And it wasn't…it wasn't as though he were floating in water, buoyant with the constant uncompromising presence of liquid surrounding and supporting him in a semi-weightless condition. No, it was like the world had subtracted itself from around him, like he was drifting aimless in a void. His weight was nothing; there was no gravity, there were no boundaries, limitations, or forces pressing against him. There was simply this unobtrusive lightness.

It wasn't as cold and negative as that sounded though. It wasn't - the floating - it didn't steal away any of his emotions, it didn't devour his soul or anything bad like that.

It was just…a pleasant kind of floating.

This was a _really_ good smoothie.

He smiled down at the drink in his hand, innocent and unassuming. It didn't require saving or demand his leadership or ignore him or betray him. It didn't refuse to give him what was expected of it, it simply _chilled_. It was all _"I'm a smoothie and I'm delicious and why don't you partake of my delicious coldness and enjoy it, for there is no deception here, only happiness"._

His smile widened, and he regarded the drink with renewed appreciation.

It was a _really_ good smoothie.

This healthy-eating thing was really working for him. He should do it more often.

Shane closed his eyes for a moment and took another sip of his beverage, chips of ice blending in a majestic collaboration of yogurt, strawberries, and who knew what other kind of glory mingled within. He felt strangely happy. Not like, exuberant or uncontrollably happy, but just…was it possible to feel glowing? If he had felt more hindered he would have thought he had been drugged. Glowing, that was how he felt. He was relaxed but content, weightless and without care and this was a _really_ good smoothie-

"Shane?"

A hand gripped the side of his shoulder and he was pulled from his smoothie-induced happy cloud of glowing-awesome begrudgingly, a look confirmed that it was Hunter, the blond appearing mildly concerned.

Weird.

He should try some of the smoothie; it would totally make him feel better.

"Yeah?" Shane crooned, smiling brightly at the crimson ranger.

You know, he _always_ wore crimson. Like, _always_. There was never an off day for this guy. Sure, Shane always wore red, even before he was a ranger, but somehow he didn't look as at home in it as Hunter did in crimson. The blond really pulled it off. Shane liked it on him.

Hunter tilted his head to the side, searching for something, and Shane just smiled around his straw, taking another sip of his drink.

The blond's gaze flickered from him to the smoothie briefly, and the grip on his shoulder tightened. "Are you okay?"

Shane nodded fervently, not pausing his sip. Of course he was okay; he was on cloud float-a-glow, the best place on earth.  Except somehow Hunter's concern- weird, it…made him feel even better. Like, even though it was clear Shane was fine, Hunter was taking interest in his well being.  It looked legitimate and it made this warm feeling grow inside his chest, lazily spreading through him with the rest of the glow.

He should talk to Hunter more often, maybe he could return the feeling and Hunter could feel the warmth and the glow.

It was a really good feeling, Shane shouldn't keep it to himself.  It should be shared, celebrated.

"Uh, huh," Hunter murmured under his breath, eyes still locked on the smoothie. It didn't look like he believed Shane.

That brought up…conflicting emotions.

"Why don't you let me have that?" the crimson ranger asked, motioning to the cup.

Shane, sad to see it go but wanting, _needing_ Hunter to feel the… to feel happy, to _be_ happy, handed the cup over, smiling brightly.

"It's really good," he chirped, ignoring Hunter's suspicious gaze. "You should try it."

See, he was sharing, like he shared his color and sometimes the leadership and conversations. He _liked_ sharing things with Hunter, come to think of it. He should try to do it more often. Then maybe the crimson ranger would be happier and smile more often.  At him, even.

Hunter didn't look like he was going to take a sip, he just kept staring at it, so Shane stepped in again, draping an arm across the blond's shoulders.

"It'll make you feel floaty," he mused dreamily, enjoying the sensation. "And warm," he added, noticing the electric tingles that shot through his arm wherever he came into contact with Hunter.

That felt…really nice. Was Hunter doing that? Why hadn't he noticed it before? He had touched Hunter before, right?

"Warm," Hunter echoed, holding the drink farther away, eyebrows scrunched. Distrust, that was what that look was, but it wasn't aimed at Shane. It was the smoothie.

Did Hunter have a thing against fruit?

Shane pushed those musings aside and nodded quickly. "Yeah," he murmured, trying to think of a better way to explain it. "Like…" he trailed off, thinking, and then smiled as inspiration hit. Regretfully, he pulled his arm away from Hunter's and slid behind him, snaking his arms around the other’s waist and dropping his head against the thunder ninja’s shoulder, pulling him flush against his chest. "Warm," he mumbled, rolling his head to the side.

The tingling had grown into a full on lightning storm rippling across his body, heat flushing his skin. Touching Hunter was…it was even better than drinking the smoothie. Hell, forget the stupid beverage, he just needed Hunter. All the warmth and glow and weightlessness was right here, natural, ever-bright and ever-present just- radiating off the crimson ranger in angelic majesty.

Odd that he hadn't seen it before. That one shining light to fend off the darkness, that one hope in the distance.

Should it be weird that he was thinking about Hunter this way? That Shane liked touching him, needing him, wanting him to be there. Should he be concerned?

Hm…

_Nah_ , this felt too good to worry about. Like, if this was one of Lothor's grand schemes, it had to be the most epic of failures as far as reverse psychology went. If he was trying to make Shane feel uneasy or suspicious he was not getting any brownie points because Shane was far too high on cloud nine to be bothered.

And Hunter was very warm. He smelled like soap and peaches (from the smoothie?). Shane pressed his cheek into the blond hair, soft and fine, wonderfully comfortable. Better than a pillow, better than a cloud. It was perfect. If hair was rated on a scale from one to ten, Hunter's hair would be at nine thousand, standing immaculate on a pedestal while all other hair genuflected before it weeping, forever thankful to be allowed the privilege of basking in its glory.

It was _really_ good hair.

Shane was torn between his desire to run his finger through it and his need to further investigate the Hunter-warmth. He wanted to touch his skin, see if the clothes hindered any of the rush of…whatever he was feeling.

Shane liked Hunter's skin. It was smooth and light and wore scars better than Shane ever would. The blond had some on his back that he never talked about, but they were trophies, unneeded proof of Hunter's will to live, of his infinite survival skills. Of the trials he'd come through victorious, humble but wary and conditioned to endure in brooding silence. They were the graffiti soaked into the foundation of Hunter, reinventing what was underneath, refusing to allow for the ordinary. They had been painted there so long ago that Hunter couldn't even remember _how_ he functioned before. The scars – inside and outside - had molded him into the warrior he was today. Stone coarse with ragged edges, the smooth spots, the perfections hidden away, waiting patiently to be revealed.

He _really_ liked Hunter's skin. When you got to know it, when you had studied it long enough and studied _him_ long enough, it was a blatant expression of everything Hunter was. You just had to know where to look. You just couldn't give up when he pushed you away.

Because he would. Nine times out of ten, when first evaluating a situation Hunter would most assuredly shove off all attempts at contact, and on the tenth time he would allow you in just long enough to take a fatal stab at your well-being, to dole out the damage before he collect any wounds himself. Shane couldn't fault him for it and knew only too well the temptation seclusion and isolation presented. He had seen it in Dustin; he had seen it in Cam, he had seen it in himself before he had discovered just _how_ much Tori and Dustin had meant to him.

Keeping to yourself was the ultimate protection. You would never feel self-conscious, you would never feel ashamed, you could never be hurt that way.

The only drawback was loneliness, but once you balanced out all the advantages, it was difficult to see how big a sacrifice it really was.

True, that didn't entirely apply to Hunter. He had Blake - always had Blake - to motivate his survival. Shane couldn't help but feel jealous of the navy ranger; he got to see Hunter at his most open. He never had to work to get in between the cracks.  He never had to slowly, ever so painstakingly crawl his way into Hunter's realm of acceptance, never had to warm himself up to the blond. Hunter accepted his brother’s opinions and his faults unconditionally, Hunter cared for him, loved him, protected him, and all without Blake ever asking him to.

Shane was vaguely aware of the ridiculousness of those feelings, because Blake was Hunter's brother, his family.  All of that was to be expected at the very _least_ , but he still hated Blake just a little. For the incredible ease with which he fell into Hunter's good graces. For the effort he would _never_ have to put forth.

Shane could hate him for that…just a little.

He frowned, not at all enjoying his current train of thought.  He attempted to distract himself, gently slipping a hand under the bottom of Hunter's shirt to see if the theory had any merit. He just needed a small touch, nothing too big, he didn't want to get greedy, didn't want to…

He dragged his index finger across the bottom of the blond’s abs, taking in the fire - biting, flaring through his hand.  It was…intoxicating.  Addictive, even.  He kind of wanted to do it again, just one more, just-

Hunter's hand curled around Shan’e wrist, grip firm but not angry-firm, just authoritative-firm, demanding to be listened to. Shane withdrew his hand shyly, disappointed to lose the heat but hating the idea of displeasing Hunter more. Hunter was rarely relaxed and happy with them, Shane didn't want him retreat into his shell, pull back all the light and wonder that he radiated with unconscious ease.

Shane didn't want to get left in the dark again, he didn't want to be stuck fighting the wall.

"Sorry," he murmured, pulling his head away from the golden hair long enough to send a sincere apologetic look the crimson ranger's way. Strangely enough - lucky, but strange still - Hunter didn't seem to be upset.  He was simply confused, and maybe a bit concerned still.

Shane was beginning to wonder if he was missing something.

He was about to ask Hunter exactly what the problem was when someone spoke for him, sounding as bewildered as Shane felt.

" _Dude_."

Shane pulled his gaze away from Hunter long enough to get a look at the source, Blake, looking somewhat bothered by the…if Shane had to make a guess, he would say it was because of the air ninja’s closeness to his brother. Shane resisted the urge to hug Hunter closer and settled for a glare, because it wasn't any of Blake’s business who was close to Hunter.  That was the blond's business, not _his_.

Blake was visibly taken aback by his reaction, confusion evident in his features as he recoiled, retreating a step.

It caused Shane to smile in satisfaction, unconsciously hugging the arm still around Hunter's waist tighter in victory. It was a small win, but it was his.

Blinking, he noticed that the rest of the team was staring at him and Hunter with the same confusion Blake had. They were worried even, and it started to bother him that he didn't understand what the problem was.

Hunter broke the staring contest by clearing his throat suddenly; his _"you all stop being idiots and pay attention"_ cough, and Shane turned and concentrated on him, face hovering inches away from the other's cheek.

"Shane," he murmured, in the same patient tone he used when the patient-cough was engaged. "Get off me."

He didn't seem mad, or frustrated, he didn't even seem baffled anymore.  He was simply back to being sarcastic, abrupt Hunter. Shane frowned; sorry to be banished, but stepped away, immediately missing the firework warmth that was Hunter.

It wasn't fair, why didn't Hunter want him?

Shane glared at the ground, shoving his hands in his pockets irritably.

He wasn't _that_ bad, and it was just a hug. Maybe it was because they were in public.  Yeah, that was probably it. Hunter was only just starting to open up to him in private; Shane had just pushed too fast. The blond simply wasn't ready for that kind of commitment.

Spirits renewed, Shane looked back up again, staring happily at the crimson ranger. The rest of the team still looked confused, bothered by whatever nonsense was dragging them down. They were probably just jealous of his smoothie.

Speaking of which…

"Can I have it back now?" he asked, motioning to the frozen beverage in Hunter's hand. If the crimson ranger wasn't going to allow him to get touchy, the least he could do was give Shane back his glowy happiness. The smoothie would accept his love.

Hunter paused, giving him an incredulous look before turning his attention to the smoothie, whose glory _had_ captured the attention of the rest of the team.

So Shane had been right.

"No," Hunter said after a moment, handing the drink discreetly over to Cam.

Shane pouted and tilted his head to the side, thinking of a way to turn this around.

Logically, he only had one answer.

"Can we go to your place?"

If Hunter was going to just _give_ his smoothie away, then maybe he could allow Shane some snuggle time. It was forward of him, Shan realized, to ask in front of the others.  Hell, asking at _all_ felt mildly suicidal, but he wanted…he _needed_ Hunter. He couldn't explain it. This urge, this fascination, was beyond explanation, but he just wanted to be with him. And if Hunter the most himself in that run-down apartment, the most comfortable, then that was where Shane would go. Whatever made him happy.

They all froze, shocked, again - Blake looking like he was about to object - but Hunter cut in, recovering smoothly, just as he always did.

"Sure," he answered, finally up to speed.

Shane beamed at him, following behind quickly as the blond made his way out of Storm Chargers.

He didn't see the knowing look that passed between Hunter and the rest of the team, or the determined nod given by Cam, eyes intent on the plastic cup in his hands.

He could only think of the warmth that was to come, of the light that Hunter was going to share.

And that was really all he needed

-:-:-:-:-:-

There was an uneasy silence that fell over them after the two reds had exited the building; a small calm reverberated in intense foreboding of the strange antics that were to come.

Blake would have been a lot more appreciative of it if he had _not_ just witnessed his brother being molested in public, but the world didn't come with emotional air bags so his brain was still stuck in the _"gross-ohgod-mybrain-mybrain-mybrain-my_ ** _brother_** _-needbleach-ohgod-_ ** _why-whygod-WHY?_** _"_ so he really couldn't be bothered with things like deducing _why_ Shane had been one step from dry-humping his one remaining family member.

There was a good chance Blake should have attempted to defend his brother's honor, if for appearances sake more than for anything else (Hunter could defend his own virtue better than Blake ever could) but the sudden change had been so…uh, _sudden_ and different and _what-the-hell-why-was-he-touching-my-brother_?

Blake was vaguely aware of Tori's comforting pats against his arm, of Dustin's attempts to jog him out of his man-violation-induced stupor, of Cam's quiet murmurings as to the possible contents of the mystery-creeper juice that had contaminated Shane's cup, but the only thing he could think of was that Sparkles McRainbow-Pants was being given a first class seat to his new most favorite show. Unlimited access to his brother without fear of interruption and _whythehelldidheleavethemalone-Hunter-whygod-_ ** _why_** _?_

Blake was out the door before he could think about it, already streaking back to their apartment.  Not in an attempt to put a stop to this crazy (even though he should), because Hunter would have his balls for that, but to simply observe from a distance and provide electrical back up in the off-hand chance Poisoned-Shane got a little too courageous. Especially considering the fact how nonchalant he had been in Storm Chargers.  Blake didn't even want to _think_ about what he would try to pull in private.

It wasn't necessary, Hunter could wipe the floor with most of them on a good day, and it was possible for the poison to hinder Shane's reflexes as well as making him a super creeper, but Blake didn't want to take any chances. It was his brother.

When he eventually settled into a perch across the street from their apartment he was joined by another, Tori landing right behind him, as quiet and stealthy as any of the masters. He didn't offer an explanation and she didn't demand any, she already knew _why_ , she had already accepted and supported his reasons, she was simply there to provide back up. To let him know he wasn't alone.

Despite the sights of the afternoon, and those soon to be promised, Blake managed to find a small sliver of comfort in that.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Whatever the hell Shane had taken had made him into a bit of an…well, Dustin had been getting onto him for cleaning up his language, so Hunter was going to go with an "odd duck", as the yellow ranger so often preferred (though in his head it was something more akin to _"drugged off his ass"_ but it wasn’t like specifics were ever really important). He'd give Lothor this; Shane's constant state of drunk-on-endorphins, abundance-of-affection was amusing as hell.

At least, when it wasn't creepy.

Unfortunately, the humor of the situation evaporated when Hunter figured out all the possible ramifications this entire foray could produce, most pressing that there was a good chance Shane was going to remember all of this _later_ , and that preventative actions needed to be taken to ensure Hunter didn't go back on the other teen’s shit list. Not that he would have taken advantage of the situation otherwise; it was just that Drugged-Shane was not as on-board with the no-touching/doting/creepy-staring plan as _Hunter_ was.

And as opposed to producing an amusing response when Hunter shot down all his approaches, he had to go and be all sad and depressed and stuff, which pretty much sucked whatever mirth there was right out of the situation.

What was worse was that Hunter was beginning to feel bad for the stupidly doped-up lug.

Sad eyes watched him from the couch, darting away immediately whenever the blond began to turn in their direction; depressed, timid, body huddled as though unworthy, willing himself into complete stillness so as to avoid upsetting Hunter for reasons he did _not_ understand.

Hunter should not care about the pouting, forlorn, dejected piece of man-meat sitting on his couch. Yes, on a normal day, with a _normal_ Shane, he should care. In fact, the entire reason behind his new "tough love" approach was _entirely_ because he was keeping _that_ Shane in mind. This new-Shane was temporary. This new-Shane was being mind controlled. This new Shane did not know what he wanted because if he _did_ his brain would have exploded by the very idea of it.

This new-Shane wasn't really feeling _anything_.

So why did Hunter feel like such a scuzbucket for ignoring his obvious depression?

It wasn't _real_ ; Hunter should _not_ be bothered by this. All he had to do was wait, probably, and it would wear off, or Cam would pull through with an answer, or they would be sent on some mystical quest to get the blessed nail clippers of some ancient race that would cure Shane or _something_ as equally ridiculous and this would all be over.

And yet here he was, studying the deepening depression of his team's red ranger, wanting to put a stop to it.

Realistically, he knew his hands were tied. The fact of the matter was, he didn't have a lot of options. He couldn't really play along with what Shane wanted (well, he _could,_ but for the sake of keeping a good standing relation with Shane, he really _couldn't_ ) and he couldn't just knock him unconscious because the drugged-teen looked so ridiculously pathetic Hunter would actually feel _guilty_ , but if he kept just doing _this_ new-Shane might do something drastic.

Like try to buy him flowers again.

That had _not_ been an interesting side quest.

Still, sitting quietly wasn't doing much for him, so he decided to break the silence, hoping to minutely distract Shane from his woes.

"This is for your own good," the blond lectured quietly, folding his arms while he adjusted his position against the far wall. He had kept on his feet in case Shane felt like getting mobile, or throwing himself out one of the windows in a fit of despair or something.

Shane immediately snapped his head in the direction of Hunter's voice, eyes sorrowful and posture rigid, suggesting that he greatly disagreed with what Hunter thought would most benefit him. That small tendril of defiance that leaked into his eyes was so shockingly natural that Hunter was taken aback – _slightly_ , taken aback – eyes widened just a fraction in shock before he recovered, forcing himself to look bored.

"Just trust me," he murmured, almost more to himself than to Shane.

He turned his gaze toward the window, no longer wishing to tolerate the other ranger’s blank stare.

Okay, maybe talking was worse than the silence had been. There was a reason he had stuck to that.

Best to just fall back into it.

Across the room, after what was assuredly a crescendo of emotions swelling in that magicked up void of want and need and falsities, Shane tightened his grip on the arm of the sofa, abused fabric straining beneath his fingertips.

_A bit overdramatic, don't you think Shane?_

So absorbed with his mental evaluation of the pros and cons of mocking Shane after this mess was cleaned up, he almost missed the red's quiet declaration. It was only the pure confidence and motivation that brought Hunter back to reality, surprised and genuinely at a loss for words.

"I love you."

Hunter blinked, still not looking at the other room's inhabitant and reviewed the past few seconds convinced that he had simply heard wrong. Lust potion he got, love potion…yeah, he could swing that, it was cliché but doable. But this– that thing he hadn't heard was a far-cry from the simple crazed affection from Storm Chargers. Hunter was supposed to be like a drug, Shane’s addiction, something he desired _yes_ , but in a humorous way not…

"I love you."

Hunter could blow off one declaration as something he misheard, but two…Shane had really said it.

And strangely enough, he had sounded like he _meant_ it.

_Talk about love potion number nine._

Right, it was a simulation still, not the real thing. This was still just a temporary situation, not important, and above all else, not real.

It bothered Hunter how much those words, however false, struck something deep in him, threatening to fill up that hallow hole in his chest with something more substantial than mere echoes.

Sucking in a breath he shook his head, trying to get back into the game.

Out of habit Hunter deflected, running a hand through his hair in annoyance. "No, you don't, but don't worry about-"

And then there were arms there, in that space that once held nothing, and legs and hands and _Shane_ , standing right in front of him, across the room in an instant, one arm gripping tight at his waist while another held his face gently, warm but insistent and ridiculously present.

It took everything in Hunter – all his years of schooling his features into the ultimate poker face, meditation upon meditation of forced detachment – to keep him from reacting to the sudden intrusion in his personal space. To keep him from over-thinking how foreign the intimacy of it was, to keep him from thinking about it _at all_.

Instead he forced himself to watch, to take it all in for later dissection when he was gifted with the safety of privacy.

Though even then he would refuse to admit to or even label the small spark of joy that flared up in his stomach.

"Yes," Shane whispered, refusing to put up with any bull as he so often did, caring and bright and demanding. "I love you."

He didn't leave any room for argument, he didn't open the floor to discussion, he simply stated the facts with enough force to will Hunter into believing him.

In that regard, Shane was successful, and the blond backed away gently, keeping his eyes locked on Shane's to make sure further belittlement was not an option.

"Okay," he murmured, squeezing the side of Shane's arm. "I believe you."

Apparently that was all that needed to be said. The fight immediately left Shane, the tension in his body melting away as he took a cautious step back, staring at Hunter with longing, caring, with want- _need-sorrow-desperation-loneliness-_ ** _lov_** -

Shane turned away quickly, exiling himself back to the couch, and Hunter sagged back against the wall, schooling himself back into quiet surliness.

They just needed to wait it out. Then Shane would go back to being Normal-Shane and Hunter could go back to not-treading on eggshells and flying on false promises and thinking, thinking about anything that had to do with the subject of feelings or romance or…anything that made him feel any less in-control than he already was, anything that threatened his way of existence.

For the sake of simplicity, he would never talk about this again. As much fun as it would be to mock the red ranger for his misfortune, it simply wasn't worth the stroll, however casual, down memory lane.

And if he was a very lucky boy, Shane would see it that way too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check it out everybody, it's Blake! Blake, you know, that other guy that gets to talk sometimes? That guy.
> 
> Until next time :)


	28. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Dustin wasn't all that sneaky a person.

Alright, so that was arguable on some levels because obviously being recruited for a secret ninja academy to learn secret ninja-y stuff and then going forth to protect the world with ninja wind morphers required _some_ amount of sneakiness, but like, personality-wise, Dustin was all sneaked out.  Conniving and mischievous plotting just wasn't in him. He would know, he looked, and failed. Cam tried to argue this point sometimes, claiming that Dustin could be epically sneaky, but that only made the brunette more frustrated because it was like having a super power he didn't even know he had.  One he didn’t know how to use, but somehow it happened anyway, he just didn't have any control over it.

The point was - Cam's delusions aside - Dustin wasn't a sneaky person.

So he wasn’t entirely sure _why_ he happened to be going through Cam's security footage of Ninja Ops…Okay, so it _may_ have had something to do with killing time and a little game he had going with Cyber Cam where they tried to do as many things Cam didn't want them to do without the tech noticing, but it had all been harmless fun, really. He respected Cam's (and Sensei's) privacy, didn't look into the green ranger's room or the ninja master's habitat, he just watched the comings and goings of all the normal safe areas.

It was kind of fun, in a boring way (if that were possible). Like, calming was probably the better way of putting it. Watching the day-to-day activities of Cam and their mission debriefs and…

Okay, so it was really just a whole bunch of talking. And tinkering, and coding, and cuddling (whenever Dustin entered the picture), but for the most part it was kind of dull, which shouldn't be reasonably possible because how, _how_ could the flow of life be boring in a _secret ninja base?_ The name itself practically forbid boredom from ever drawing near. Sure, there was the occasional spar, but that was about as loud and kooky as it got.

Dustin felt strangely disappointed at the discovery, but couldn't find it in himself to be too terribly surprised. What had he been expecting, mad rave parties?

He could see Cam having radical glow stick skills.

He shouldn't have complained to Cyber Cam though. He should have known (despite Cam's many assurances otherwise) that not all the kinks had been worked out of the program. The AI seemed to take his declaration on as a challenge, and before Dustin could protest (because ninja speed still wasn't a great match for cyber speed) the hologram presented him a rather surprising discovery.

It started off with Cam in his lab doing his normal lab-y stuff, fiddling with an object with unpronounceable name here and adjusting the thingamabob with the flashing lights there, all normal run-of-the-mill activities. It changed a second later when Hunter entered the scene, swaggering in as he normally did when he felt the desperate need to aggravate Cam. The green ranger didn’t pay him any attention, because he was far too awesome to get caught up in Hunter's childish games when there was some good old fashioned…stabbing to be doing, or something.

After that there was some more of the basic Hunter/Cam interaction. Hunter would talk, Cam would ignore him, Hunter would talk some more and act like it hadn't bothered him, Cam would ignore him some more, Hunter would refuse to go away and try again and…

Hey!

Hey, hey, hey, _no_ , that wasn’t-

Because apparently the crimson ranger had taken a page from Dustin's book and decided that snugglin' was the most effective weapon _ever_ for dealing with grumpy Cam, which might have worked but that was _Dustin's_ move and he got to do it because that fine piece of genius man was _his_.

And then there was some more talking, which Dustin didn't really pay much attention to, but then Cam _finally_ reacted to whatever Hunter said and they were spitting bullets at each other, angry, steaming mad in that subdued way Cam did because he refused to allow Hunter to get the best of him and Hunter had that burning fury but it was all built up around his eyes because he was the master robot who always carried out his mission before he allowed his emotions to get involved.

Why didn't Cam have _audio?_

Dustin wanted to know what they were talking about too! He was supposed to be mad at Hunter for something other than boyfriend-snugglin' and he wanted to know _what_. Why did those two always butt heads all the time? Yes, he made out with Hunter once, but Dustin figured the blond had more than made up for it with the face smashing Cam had given him. Weren’t they even now? Dustin would never admit it, but he was still a little grateful for Hunter's help, because that was what had gotten Dustin to Cam, so he had been much faster to forgive and move on, except for now but-

Oh no, he did _not_.

Hunter did _not_ just kiss Cam on the cheek because they _weren't_ family and they _weren't_ dating and while it could be argued that teammates were allowed to kiss other teammates, you didn't see anyone _else_ getting all touchy feely with each other. How would Hunter feel if Dustin uh…started getting fresh with Blake? Yeah, how about a little brother molestation to even the odds? Blake was already traumatized by Shane's public displays of affection toward Hunter; it would only be fair for Dustin to repay the sentiment.

Except Hunter would be far less forgiving than anyone else on the team, and Dustin really didn't want to die. It would probably be really hard to find a replacement yellow ranger.

Also, he was kind of a fan of living.

‘Cuz you know, it was good and stuff.

That was _not_ cool. What did Hunter want? Besides anger and snarkiness.  He wouldn't purposefully go out of his way to upset Cam right? They were past that. They weren't a perfect team, but Hunter didn't do things without a reason, he didn't bother himself with things that he didn't think were important.

Dustin just needed to go and talk to him, straighten everything out.

And if that failed, he could ask Cam and Tori if it was okay for him to make out with Blake.

He was pretty sure the navy ranger wouldn't mind _too_ much.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Shane was doing that thing where he privately worked through his "traumatic experience" on his lonesome in the solitude of the skate ramp or hidden valley or wherever his preferred haunt for angsting was today, and Hunter, being the fine gentleman that he was, opted to let him work though his issues before they ended up doing that 'talking' thing of which the red ranger seemed _oh_ so fond. Or, if things went the way _Hunter_ wanted them to, he could just smack the skater on the back of the head and tell him to stop being stupid and they could return to the tentative friendship they were trying out.

But that would be easy, excessively easy, so the talking-thing was probably going to happen instead.

Hunter decided he would just verbally deliver the head smack and _then_ they would be cool, by way of compromise.

It wasn't the greatest plan, but it was workable.

That being said, with his brother still awkwardly avoiding both he _and_ Shane (which was something Hunter was going to have to smack out of him too if Blake didn’t knock it off real quick) and Cam reverting back to the silent treatment, Hunter figured he was in the free and clear for at _least_ a couple of days before someone busted into his apartment with over-emotional negative tidings aimed at _him_.

In retrospect, this was clearly a stupid assumption to make.

The insistent banging on his door made it obvious enough that Dustin was the one on the other side, but in Hunter’s defense, the repetitive tapping wasn't outside the reach of the standard Dustin code of conduct, so the blond honestly couldn't tell there was a stormy horizon zeroing in on his person. Of course by the time he had opened the door it had been too late because yes, he _would_ have simply left Dustin out there to simmer in his own discontent had he known how pissed the mechanic was (as the yellow ranger was too polite to simply bust down his door and Hunter was more than willing to take advantage of that).

But their apartment didn't come with a peephole, and Dustin generally came bearing escapades that couldn't help but be entertaining, so Hunter opened the door. And then he almost shut it, but Dustin was a fast little _bastard_ and had somehow osmosised that defensive maneuver from Hunter’s brain and ducked past him quickly, coming to a jerking halt in the center of the room, looking back and forth uncertainly.

Hunter thought that if he simply kept quiet the yellow ranger would cool down, that Dustin hadn't really thought anything through and was figuring out what his next move would be. Entertainment was still salvageable.

But then the curly-haired teen seemed to find whatever he had been looking for and darted into the room Hunter and Blake shared before the crimson ranger could object (and he would have because their room was pathetically sparse). The yellow ranger reemerged just as Hunter made it to the couch, each hand equipped with a pillow.

It took about three eighths of a second before Hunter realized that it was _on_.

He heard the first pillow fly past his head as he leapt to the side, using the couch as shelter while he regrouped for the second barrage. He rolled to his knees in time to see that Dustin had anticipated his move and was already leaping over the front of the sofa, pillow reared back to enable some fluffy clubbing. Hunter blindly lunged out of the way, back in the direction of the first discarded pillow. Had he a moment to breathe, he would have marveled at the absurdity of the situation (it gave ‘extreme pillow fighting’ a whole new meaning) but after the rather aggressive actions of a certain green ranger towards a certain awesome crimson ranger and a rather stern " _teammates don't bludgeon other teammates with their surprisingly bony fists"_ lecture from Sensei, Hunter supposed there was a certain level of reasoning behind Dustin's actions.

He was not happy. To be exact, he was not happy with _Hunter,_ and while they would eventually get to the yelling part of the conversation, Dustin, much like that loveable boyfriend of his, was not magnificently gifted in the communication department. It was a wonder those two hadn't killed each other yet they failed so bad, seriously, Hunter and Blake had a small betting pool going.

This little war here, this was the yellow ranger's warm up for expressing his displeasure at whatever Hunter had done (he should just start assuming that they were mad at him _always_ , it would probably save him some trouble).

And according to the rules of Sensei, and to stay in everyone's good graces, and because he legitimately _liked_ Dustin (when he wasn't pummeling Hunter with his own pillow), he would just have to play along.

The blond should have felt worse about it, considering the circumstances under which they were instigated, but the pillow fighting was actually kind of fun. Sort of like diet-sparing.

He should try it with Blake later; make sure it wasn’t just a fluke.

Blake had a natural gift of ruining things. Hunter had used it to his advantage many times.

His blind roll hit pay dirt once he got upright again, the decoy pillow ended up right next to him. He snatched it up just as Dustin pelted the second pillow, successfully managing to thwack his shoulder before plummeting to the ground. That left the score at Hunter: Pillow, Dustin: weaponless. The crimson ranger definitely had the advantage.

 He smiled victoriously, brandishing his pillow with an amount of smugness that was very fitting and well done, but would be immediately forgotten as the yellow ranger simply tackled him to the ground, wrestling for the fluffy weapon as though his life depended on it.

Hunter supposed that for the moment, it kind of did.

"Give it back," Dustin growled, or his best attempt at a growl which Hunter wouldn't say _completely_ failed, but was a far cry from what he was probably going for. "I need… to express… my _disapproval_."

He frowned, straddling Hunter's waist in an attempt to get better leverage, which incidentally worked _very_ well, with very little credit to Dustin's effort and very much credit to Hunter letting go from surprise at the sudden invasion of space. Hunter knew that Dustin didn't really think much about his actions like _ever_ , he just sorta did things, but the crimson ranger thought that the mechanic had started to become more aware of his… _Dustiness_ after dating Cam.

Nope, not quite.

Dustin smiled triumphantly but didn't make the same mistake as Hunter by hesitating; instead he immediately began his pillow barrage, leaving Hunter to block as much of the fluffy damage as he could with arms, to varying degrees of success. It didn't help that Dustin was still on top of him, and angry, and _wiggling_ , but Hunter pushed through it mentally, whatever, and kept his eyes open, trying to time the best moment for him to snatch that stupid pillow away and-

The pummeling didn't _immediately_ stop when the door opened, Dustin took the opportunity to give a sound smack on the side of his head when he turned to see Blake's reaction, because it _had_ to be Blake, and it was totally worth it, his brother shocked and disturbed enough to drop his bag stuffed with riding gear. Dustin decided to notice him a few seconds later, glaring at the navy ranger's intrusion as though _he_ were at fault, and Blake just looked like he wanted to erase the past three seconds _so_ badly and _oh god this was_ ** _wonderful_. **

Now Dustin just had to say something...You know, Hunter wasn’t even going to bother describing it, the might of Dustin could not be tamed by mere labels.

The yellow ranger pointed his pillow-bearing hand at the younger thunder ranger threateningly, scrunching his eyebrows in an odd manner that was probably supposed to be intimidating but came off more as _"I have something in my eye"._

_Here's the wind up_.

"Go away," he ordered, pillow shaking. "We're kind of in the middle of something important." He paused, as though remembering what it was, and smacked Hunter one more time (who took it full on because he had been too busy staring at Blake's growing look of horror).

_And the pitch_.

Unable to resist Hunter smiled cheekily, wanting desperately to add the cherry on top but careful not to provoke Dustin further. "Yeah Blake, this is a private conversation."

Dustin smacked him again anyway but Hunter didn't complain, he had been too busy smiling at the space previously occupied by his brother that was now sporting a very loud slammed door.

Blake was probably going to avoid him for a good few days more just because of that, but it was totally worth it in the long run. It was what older brothers were for anyway, beating you down, making you stronger.

It was a thankless job, but someone had to do it.

A sudden increase in pressure on his stomach jolted Hunter from those happy thoughts (yes, those were the happy ones, _no judging_ ) and turned his attention back to Dustin, who finally seemed pillow-happy-ed out. The yellow ranger sighed, slumping completely down on Hunter as he toyed with the edge of the attack pillow. He sighed again and hugged the pillow to his chest, worried look on his face as he stared off into the distance, mind clearly wandering.

Hunter would have been a lot more sympathetic if his favorite breathing place wasn't slowly being crushed by a teen whose majority of body mass was muscle.

He coughed loudly; trying to get the other teen’s attention. 

He failed. Hunter then coughed _louder_ and once more, failed. Then he gave up all pretense of being "subtle" and started waving a hand in front of Dustin's face, eager to snap the other ranger out of it so he could make with the breathing again.

Hunter was a fan of the breathing.

"…Dustin," he choked out, waving his hand energetically. "…My stomach."

_That_ seemed to get through to him. Dustin snapped back, quickly removing himself from Hunter's stomach and handing the pillow over with a level of quiet reservation that vastly differed from his fury-induced attack from earlier. Hunter accepted it gingerly, watching as Dustin reached over and snagged the other discarded pillow from its hiding spot behind a chair and tucked it behind his head, flopping down to the ground with a slightly distracted sigh.

Hunter studied him, confused, but decided to go with the flow, tucking his pillow under him before joining in the new epic contest of staring at the ceiling.

Well, at least it didn't involve hurting _him_.

That was one thing.

"Are you lonely Hunter?"

And _that_ was another thing.

"What?" he asked and immediately regretted it, snapping his head to the side to meet the inquisitive stare of one Dustin Brooks, being miraculously insightful and inquisitive and- who was Hunter kidding, this was probably just a lucky guess.

What did it have to do with anything? Was Dustin mortally wounded at the idea that he could be lonely or was it something else? How the hell had- no, it didn't even matter how, Hunter just had to brush it off, play it cool, Dustin would never know the difference.

He continued before Dustin could get a chance to answer him, taking his own advice and relaxing into a cocky grin. "I'm fine Dustin, I have Blake."

_If that's what you're worried about_.

What brought this up?

Dustin eyebrows scrunched together in a way that did _not_ suggest he believed Hunter. He looked confused, but thankfully not suspicious, wringing his hands lightly.

"That's not what I meant," Dustin clarified, frowning again as he turned onto his side to get a better look at Hunter, pillowing his head atop his right arm. "Like, Blake has Tori and I have Cam. Aren't you a little…" he trailed off, gesturing vaguely with his free hand. "Lonely?"

Hunter couldn't stop from frowning, couldn't help but play on the defensive as Dustin got a little too close to uncomfortable territories.

He tried to brush it off again, rejuvenating his smugness. "Isn't this something you should be asking your best friend?"

Because Shane didn't have anyone either. Granted, Hunter had never really asked about the red ranger's life outside the team, but Shane was charismatic and grounded enough to be able to pick up any girl of his choice, or at least, a moderately-sane one.  

That wasn't really an option for Hunter - not that it was important, or that Shane's personal life was important, or relevant, it was just-

Dustin looked thoughtful over that, as though he hadn't considered that nugget of wisdom.  Unfortunately, he seemed to file this away instead of pursuing the distraction, choosing to stay on topic because he was annoyingly stubborn like that.

"Yeah, but Shane didn't kiss my boyfriend."

And Hunter totally had, but that wasn't something Dustin was supposed to _know_ about.

The yellow ranger answered his question before he had a chance to vocalize it, patting Hunter's pillow as though to explain his previous rage. "Cyber Cam showed me," Dustin said, squinting his eyes as though recalling the memory. "It was a challenge."

The brunette refused to expand on that last point, and Hunter didn't feel boggled enough for it to be relevant, so he quickly made some calculations to see where they were on the playing field. Dustin had undisputable proof of Hunter snuggling up to his boyfriend.  While Hunter could argue it was because Cam had ignored him (they _had_ done this kind of thing before), the kiss would be harder to pass off, _especially_ considering the fact that Dustin - in his emotionally incompetent glory - seemed to have figured out the heart of the problem within the few seconds between Hunter beat-down and Hunter talk-time.

_That_ was the real disturbing part. Even if Dustin had been ruminating over Hunter’s well being since watching the video, that was _still_ just a little too insightful for Hunter to be comfortable. Either Dustin knew him really well - and Hunter wasn't even going to touch that one - or he knew what loneliness looked like, and the actions inspired thereof.

Now _that_ was a little more plausible.

Though Hunter was a still at odds with how to handle it.

He had been trying, but he still found it difficult to turn to someone for help where emotions were concerned. Hunter and Blake, they didn't need to talk, they _knew_ everything there was to know about each other.  They knew when the other was hurting and what needed to be done to make that right.  It didn't need to verbally acknowledged, it was inherent. Aside from the occasional " _I love you, don't die_ ", they didn't really talk about things. 

That worked for Hunter.

The others though, they needed explanations for _everything_ and he didn't- acknowledging this - that potential loneliness - was like acknowledging a weakness.  Why would Hunter want to do that with someone else? Someone who wasn’t a guarantee for him in the long run, someone who would be there when things got tough, no questions asked, no strings attached?

The only person the blond had that with was Blake.  While he liked his team, while he valued their strengths and trusted them in battle, this was just different.

This was implicit trust.  Hunter knew Dustin wouldn't hurt him on purpose (pillow barrages aside), knew he wouldn't intentionally betray the crimson ranger, Hunter just- He had his concerns.

A thought Hunter never addressed hung stubbornly in the back of his mind, worried that if he _did_ open up, the others wouldn't like what they saw. That even Dustin wouldn't accept him anymore.

Of course, there was no need to worry about the ramifications of spilling his guts when it clearly hadn't been asked for, so Hunter kept with where he and Dustin were _now_ and decided to play it safe. Dealing with his problem most effectively by not dealing with it at all. Asking one thing and jumping about eighteen steps forward in the conversation was Dustin's territory, there was no need to offer free ammunition here.

First things first, a solid explanation. "He was ignoring me."

Because he was, that much would forever be true.

But then Dustin gave him a kicked puppy look brimming with disappointment and _woe,_ and Hunter instantly felt like a tool for ignoring the obvious problem here.

That being the whole kissing-of-Cam-thing.

Stupid impulses.

Stupid Cam.

Stupid, _stupid_ Cam.

And Cyber Cam.

All Cams.  All of them, in the world, just to be safe.

They were probably all stupid anyway.

It looked like at least a _little_ soul bearing was going to be required in order to get out of this one.

Thankfully, insightful-Dustin seemed to somehow sense his pain.

"I'm sorry."

Hunter stared at him, bewildered, because he was pretty sure that was what _he_ was supposed to say.

But yes, Dustin legitimately looked guilty for whatever he had supposedly done.

"After Cam…" Dustin trailed off, hand curling into fist and jabbing the air a few times to quietly illustrate _'went psycho on your ass'_. "I didn't- _W _e__ didn't really ever apologize and you…” Dustin frowned, and sat up abruptly, forcing Hunter to follow. "You helped me. You explained it." He ran a distracted hand through his hair, staring at the floor. "I never really said thank you." He looked back up at the crimson ranger, tugging at a random curl. "And then with everything that happened, I just sort of forgot that you were going to Ninja Ops for the same reason I was.  You just wanted someone."

He stopped pulling at the rebel curl, but Hunter couldn't tear his eyes from it.  He knew what was coming next, knew that he had been angry but had already let it slide off him- so why did Dustin want to bring it up again?  Hunter was _fine,_ he was _fine_ , and it didn't matter anyway.  Nothing mattered except Blake – and, subsequently, the world - but _Hunter’s_ _feelings_ didn't really matter. 

What had they ever gotten him anyway?

Unaware, Dustin continued, sticking a figurative hand into Hunter’s chest and digging for all that concern the blond had buried a long time ago.

"So even though you pretend you're not mad, and even if you're really _not_ , I figured that you really _did_ want to make it work." Dustin toyed with the strand again, thoughtlessly twining it through his fingers. "And even if you weren't sad, you were probably lonely."

The fingers stilled, causing to Hunter look back up again.  He didn’t know if his face wore the same schooled look of smugness he had set to default, had no idea if the composure he had drilled into himself managed to hold.

By the sad expression on Dustin's face, it probably didn’t.

"And that is something I have a lot of experience with," the brunette admitted quietly, as though saying it any louder would shatter them both and _wow-_  Hunter was getting a little too stupid for- _Damn it,_ he couldn’t even think of something sarcastic when Dustin was looking at him with such genuine sadness.

Damn him. Damn Dustin for being so loveable, and damn him for being so undemanding, and _damn_ whoever the hell had abandoned this kid, because he was just too _nice_ for that.

And then as though to justify Hunter’s inner ramblings, Dustin gave him a timid smile. "I just wanted you to know that I'm on your side man. Like, if you need me, or if you _don't,_ it's cool.  But, like…"

Hunter, finally getting off his ass and doing _some_ of the work for this reconciliation, cut in smoothly, "Thank you, Dustin."

It wasn't the gushy, destroying heart-to-soul thing he had imagined.  Hunter hadn't admitted anything; Dustin had just sort of known and…

Maybe this sharing-thing wasn't as bad as he had thought it was.

That didn't mean Hunter was going to throw himself completely into it, but it was nice having someone on "his side".

Dustin smiled brightly.  That was the only warning Hunter got before he was tackled to the ground again.

This time it was in a much more caring manner though, yellow-clad arms wrapped around his back in the most fraternally-loving way. Hunter gave an overdramatic sigh but reciprocated the hold fondly, paying no heed to the added weight of the yellow ranger.

"You don't even have to do any talking," Dustin murmured excitedly, rubbing his face against Hunter's shoulder.  "And my lips?  Super sealed. Even to Cam.  Just…let me in, man."

Hunter smiled and petted the back of Dustin's head affectionately.  Somehow, the yellow ranger discerned the action as the approval it really was and squeezed the blond tighter, seemingly pleased.

Okay, so this was…it wasn’t bad.  It wasn’t bad.

Maybe he could get used to this.

Hunter was willing to blame endorphins for missing the door opening.  He could admit he was pretty caught in the moment, but he snapped out of it the moment he heard Blake's bag drop, _again_.

He and Dustin both turned in time to see the navy ranger looking rather uneasy, a borrowed pillow in hand.

Well, Hunter had to give him credit for loyalty, even in the face of mild scarring.

“It's not what it looks like," Hunter offered, shrugging indifferently. 

Dustin gave him a confused look. Because _obviously_ they couldn't be doing anything but hugging.

"What does it look like?"

Hunter couldn't help it; he threw his head back and laughed.

And then he laughed some more, minutes later when Blake dropped the pillow and said, "You broke my brother."

Because sometimes, you just _had_ too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you guys thought you were going to get some Shane this week. Pero nooooo, instead we get fluffy, fluffy goodness.
> 
> Until next time :)


	29. Cool

So there was a reason people in love, real love - not the fake, dramatized, commercial version of it, but legitimate love - were so freaking happy all the time.

Now Shane couldn’t make fun of all those couples, the ones that had been together for a long time that kept telling the same mushy stories and sat on the same side of the table, anymore. Because he understood them. He understood why they were _always_ so content.

And yes, life wasn't always a picnic; things didn't always work out – but those couples?  They worked through those troubles and trials because of that undeniable, almost mythical, fairy-tale-like bond that connected them.

Shane had thought that true love was a bit of a hoax. He understood companionship, recognized that Cam and Dustin had something special; but love, _real_ love, had been built up into this huge, life-changing, grandiose thing that just didn't seem attainable. It didn't even seem _plausible_. It had to be just some concept that the romantics created, or that the media mass-produced and shoved down everyone's throats as a way to turn a profit. It was forever elusive, but society was encouraged to keep trying to search for "the one".

That wasn't to say that Shane didn't hope to find a special someone of his own. Someone who he was greatly fond of, who, through some bizarre turn of events, also happened to like him too. Someone who could be his best friend, but who would also like to indulge in… _other_ things. Someone to fight off the void of loneliness.  Someone with which to raise a family.

_That_ was love. Real life love, the kind of love that most people experienced.

Soulmates - true love - the idea of it was too unrealistic.

And then he drank one stupid love potion and suddenly it wasn't.

Shane wanted to say that the potion was simply an exaggeration, a euphoric high of emotions, but that was only partially-true. It didn't inspire anything too out of reach, it _wasn't_ unattainable. It was simply a feeling.

It was simply love.

Which wasn't as simple as he had thought it would be.

Part of him wished that it had been anyone but Hunter he had fallen in ‘love’ with, because, well, it was _Hunter_ , and they had _just_ started hanging out.  It was awkward.

However, there was a part of him that was ridiculously glad for it, because it was _Hunter_ , and it made it easier to compare the before and after and not get confused in the mess of it.

"True" love (Shane couldn’t help but think of it sarcastically, it was the only real defense he had before he lost it and punched a wall) was exhilarating. They didn't even do much (Hunter wouldn't let him, thank God), but Shane had gotten close, touched him, embarrassed himself in public a little (he had only seen Kelly once since then, but the measured look she gave made him feel like one of Cam's science experiments), but mostly he just occupied the same room as Hunter.

Somehow, that had been enough. Because at the time, Hunter had been _Hunter_ \- strong and blond and stubborn and sarcastic and mean.  All those facets wrapped up in one had been both frustrating and interesting as hell.  Shane had soaked up every little nuance greedily, desperate for more. It was almost like Hunter had never really been _there_ before, not really, but then suddenly, look, there was Hunter and he was _everything_. He was everything and _anything_ and somehow Shane surrendered every piece of himself to the crimson ranger and he hadn’t really cared about it. It hadn’t bothered him how open and needy he had been, how dependent, because he knew Hunter had his back.  Knew that as long as Hunter was there, it would all be okay.

It was strange. Thinking about Hunter so much, more than Shane had ever thought about the blond before, like it was natural. Like it was normal.

It didn't bother him as much as it _could_ have, because Shane knew it was a potion.  Once Cam had mixed up the antidote, it was all gone, just, _woosh_ , like it had never happened at all.  One moment, extreme attachment.  The next, nothing.

Where others might fall, it didn’t shake him.

But what actually _did_ bother Shane, the thing that stubbornly clung to the back of his mind was-

How much he missed it.

At the time his ‘love’ had given him a purpose.  But more than that, it had- even if it was unrequited, it made him feel _alive_ , complete.

He had thought that saving the world took all his effort; all his energy and focus and anything else he could manage to fit in- friendship, school work, it was all icing - but then Shane had gotten a taste of this _thing_ ; this great, supposedly mythical _thing_ , and it was real and it probably the greatest feeling in the world.

He knew love could burn, knew that it could hurt and be agonizing and just _not_ work out, at all, but even that bad stuff, even if he felt only the awful side of love…

It was still living beyond what he was doing now. It was like he had experienced a level of involvement that he didn't have now, un-love-potioned. Like Shane hadn't really experienced life until he had been in love with someone.

He wanted that feeling back so badly that he was tempted to somehow find another love potion to obtain, because it had felt so much _better_ than what he had now.

It was a startling day when he had realized he had just been going through the motions.

That was what it felt like, now that he looked back on it. Every moment _before_ , it didn't count.  It had just been survival and maintaining and coping, but…Even though it had been Hunter - which was weird and, really, just strange - Shane still missed it.

He couldn't decide if it was worse, because it was the crimson ranger. Romantically speaking, Shane had never really ever been interested in guys, but somehow that hadn't mattered with the potion. Dark ninja magic was nothing to sniff at, of course, but wouldn't something that had been drilled into you, something you had always believed in, stick with you just a little bit?

Shane hadn't even blinked, hadn't cared _at all_ that Hunter was a guy. That he didn't _like_ guys, that he _wasn't_ gay.

But that hadn’t been the important part.

The body hadn't mattered. The housing, the outside- Hunter could have been transformed into a guinea pig himself and Shane probably wouldn't have cared, because it wasn't Hunter's body he liked, it was _Hunter_ – inside – he adored. That was what he had worshiped, needed, _loved_.

Shane wanted to feel that again. He didn't like this loneliness he had settled into.  While he knew searching for love was a long shot, shouldn’t even be a priority, he found himself wanting to at least _try_.

_Damn it_ , this hadn't been important before.

Why hadn't Shane figured it out when Cam had gotten Dustin or Blake and Tori pledged themselves to each other?  It felt like Shane could have saved himself a lot of grief if he had just sorted things out back then.  How though, he wasn’t sure.

Well, now he was alone.  Granted, Hunter was too, but…

Shane wasn’t sure what to think of Hunter now. He knew what he had thought of the blond _before_ (it was pretty much the same as _now)_ , and that Hunter was bi, but Shane _wasn't_ , and…Hell, he probably shouldn't worry about these kind of things anyway, they didn't matter. He wanted someone he could share his ranger business with, but aside from Hunter, there wasn't anyone, and there was nothing he could do about that.

For now, he would just have to settle for staying alone.  There had been other ranger teams before; there would probably be some who followed after team Ninja Storm.  Maybe Shane could meet one of them.

It wasn’t like he could actually date Hunter.  It was an amusing prospect to entertain, but even if Shane didn’t care about a person’s body (he liked to think he didn’t), it would still be _Hunter_.  As well as they seemed to be getting along nowadays, the bottom line was that Hunter didn’t really like Shane all that much. 

_That_ was something the air ninja could pick up on. 

Shane knew the score.  He was a distraction, liked for the entertainment he provided, or as much as was required to work with him for the coherency of the team.  Beyond that, he wasn’t much to Hunter, and there wasn’t any point in lingering on that fact.

Besides, it would just be settling, for both of them. He didn't really _like_ Hunter all that much- well he did, but not the body, mind and soul worshiping like he had before.  It was probably a good thing for both of them.  They’d most likely end up killing each other if they ever actually dated.

Tori would probably take running bets for how long that would take.  She was dependably crafty that way.

But just…as an intellectual exercise, from curiosity alone, Shane muddled over the enigma that was Hunter Bradley, since it didn’t look like he was going to be able to think about something else anytime soon.  Must be some fading remnants of the potion.  He would have to ask Cam about it later.

The crimson ranger had started off evil; turned good, turned evil again (against his will), tried to destroy his brother (also against his will), saw the light, joined the team, hit on Dustin, hit on _Cam_ , then hit on Dustin again, got beaten up for his troubles, and then (in a show of logic that bore absolutely no reasoning) he pulled Shane out of his spiraling stupidity-induced depression and had kind of just been…chilling ever since.

It was almost like whatever any of them had thrown at him (Lothor, the team, Cyber Cam) didn't matter.  Everything just rolled off the blond, like it was nothing.

The only thing that seemed to be important to him was Blake.

Shouldn't he have gotten angry at some point?  Shane definitely would have gotten angry at some point, or at the very least accusing.  There should have been bitterness so thick it was like a second skin, but instead he was just, apathetic.

Part of Shane wanted to roust some anger over that, but a greater part of him was saturated with a feeling he ended up labeling as pity.

Had Hunter been genuinely interested in Dustin or Cam?  Had that been a real thing?  Because he hadn't fought for them.  He didn’t even try, didn't seem to care that they had canceled him out of their arrangement. Shane had yet to see the blond even mention the fact that Cam had played him, or had _tried_ to, or that Dustin had turned him down.

If he was going to be so unaffected by a negative turn out, why had he even tried? Why had he reached out for them or even mentioned it to Shane if he hadn’t been committed to it? Why had he ever bothered with romance at all?

He hadn’t known about Cam’s attraction to Dustin, that much had been clear.  The blond had been surprised at that turn of events, and then he'd been _exasperated_.

While Shane had spent a majority of that conversation confused, he knew that underneath all the annoyance, Hunter was the one that had been hurt.

And in a fortunate stroke of luck, Shane even knew why.

While it wasn't all that surprising for Lothor to betray Hunter’s trust, Cam had been a different story in far more dangerous territory.

Lothor only attacked on the battlefield but Cam, on the other hand, had betrayed Hunter on a more intimate level.

If he put himself in Cam’s mindset, Shane could almost understand why the tech had done it.  Knew from his own concerns when Hunter had first joined the team.

Now, Shane knew better.

Hunter was a fighter - a scrappy, stubborn _bastard_ \- who didn't abandon a teammate and didn't stop fighting until all the bad guys were down. Shane could admit it now, he had been slightly intimidated by Hunter in the begging.  Because of that he had refused, for the longest time, to see the crimson ranger as a person.

He had kept the blond at a distance, hadn’t thought twice about how things would affect him because he had always appeared to be so unshakable. It didn't matter what Shane _did,_ there was nothing, _nothing_ he could do that would hurt Hunter.

Now the pure naivety, the blatant stupidity of such a concept, left the air ninja with a feeling of Shane.

He had been wrong, fooled by Hunter's mask.

Hunter was just like everyone else. He had feelings, but he _expected_ to be abused.  He expected people to betray him, so he conditioned himself not to care when it happened. Like his sole purpose in life was to be the punching bag of others.

The worst part of it was that it had clearly happened so often that he didn't bother to stand up for himself anymore. Not for things that weren't absolutely vital.

_That_ _was_ what really bothered Shane, whenever he'd been brave enough to think over the matter.

It was almost funny to consider it; how Hunter's chosen line of defense seemed to be more like an open invitation for pain.  His entire attitude screaming, " _Hurt me, come on, I dare you to try. I don't feel, it doesn't matter, do your_ ** _worst_** _."_

And they had. They all had.

And he had suffered for it.

Or, he _would_ have suffered for it, were he one to allow such things to happen to him.

It made Shane wonder why Hunter had bothered reaching out to him at all. Probably because Shane had never overtly abused him, but with all that, how could he still want to help? And he _had_ legitimately helped. He gave Shane a verbal (or when needed, physical) smack on the head when he got too dour, or when the red ranger focused on the wrong things. He kept Shane in line when it was needed, offered his expertise and his time whenever the air ninja was feeling lonely.  There was nothing Shane could really throw at Hunter that the blond couldn't handle.

Hunter made time for Shane. He had kept the air ninja from embarrassing himself in public.

He was a friend.

Maybe that was what he was trying to gain. Trust was inherent on the team; it was a necessity.  They backed each other up in combat, helped each other, and never abandoned a teammate when they were struggling.  On the battlefield, they were a nearly indestructible unit.

Outside their tactile engagements, it was a much different story. There was still trust, they were friends, but _all_ of them had issues with trusting their emotions to each other.

With the possible exception of Tori, but she was remarkably attuned to herself, so she didn’t really count.

They were close, they were friends, but Hunter wouldn’t let his walls down for anyone but Blake.

Reaching out to Shane was his way of rectifying that. It was mutually beneficial.

Maybe.

But there was no other way for Shane to make sense of it.  Of any of it.  It wasn’t that Hunter was too self-centered to be motivated otherwise, just that with the way he had conditioned himself, it added up.

If Hunter was committed to this choice of action, then Shane needed to return the favor. He needed to be a better friend, which meant that they needed to talk.

It was unavoidable, but at least they weren't going to be stewing over the love potion incident. The potion had made him privy to Hunter's strengths, aware of his greater assets, but it hadn’t changed anything. At least, not between _them_.

Shane would keep the personal alterations to himself. They weren't important.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Hunter was occupying himself with sit ups. They were a much more productive use of his time than the English homework he had abandoned on the coffee table, and besides, working out your core was always important.

Exercising had always helped clear his head anyway, so he might as well kill two birds with one stone since he had to stay in the apartment.

Well, technically he didn't.  _Technically_ , Hunter was a fully-functioning human being who could do whatever he pleased- but he had a feeling that Shane had finally met his angsting quota.  And with the end of angst, came conversations.

Hunter didn’t like the fact, but he understood the futility in fighting it.  If confrontation was unavoidable, he may as well stack the cards in his favor. 

The apartment, while not a neutral territory, offered privacy that the multitude of cameras at Ninja Ops just couldn't provide. The blond didn't know how this conversation would turn out, and honestly, he didn't care, but like _hell_ was he going to give Cam any ammunition – or Dustin another opportunity to catch something he shouldn’t.  That was just practicality.

If he was being entirely truthful (gun to his head, knife to his throat, and all that), Hunter wasn’t a hundred percent _positive_ that he didn’t care, but after intimate-pillow-confessions-time with Dustin, Hunter wasn't sure if he was prepared to take something to heart. It would be much easier to just blow things off.

It probably wouldn't happen – because Shane wore his sense of duty like a second skin and would demand some kind of reaction like a normal human being, but a guy could try.

Opening up was still a foreign concept to Hunter. To Blake it was unnecessary, to Dustin it was natural (he guessed), at least moderately so, because somehow that mo-fo had snuck into his good graces, kind of like he did with _everyone._ _For Dustin, it had_ only been a matter of time.  But for Shane…

When it came to disclosing more personal matters towards the red ranger, there was still a fine balance. Hunter was his equal (and if Shane forgot that, Hunter had a fist that could happily support this point for him) so sharing was expected.  But sharing _too_ much, that was what it really was.  Hunter didn't _want_ to do it, but he _should_.

But even then, he couldn't share too much or he would compromise himself. The good news was this: Hunter had the advantage as far as emotional things went.  Shane had been far more receptive to the ‘sharing concept’ after the epic love of Cam/Dustin had been united, taking over the majority of the talking, and _then_ this love potion thing happened so…

Yeah, it was fairly safe to say that Hunter had the upper hand at the moment.

So there was one thing.

Solid knocks against the front door broke Hunter out of his mild reverie.  The blond rolled to his feet, snatching up his discarded t-shirt and re-clothing himself as he strode towards the front of the apartment.  He was already certain from the strength and number of knocks that it had to be Shane on the other side. _Damn,_ he was good.

Hunter wasn't sure why he had thought they would be doing this today; it just felt like it was time. Like he had woken up and knew that it couldn't be pushed off any longer. His body _knew_.

And there Shane was.

Before they had joined the team, Hunter would have been concerned with how well he knew the red ranger, but now he could see that those feelings were unreasonable. It was only practical for him to be familiar with his leader. It made sense. If Shane ever turned against them, Hunter would be glad for his expertise. 

You know, for neck stabbing. 

This excess knowledge was nothing to be worried about.

He unlocked the deadbolt and tapped a finger against the door frame, leaning closely.

"Are you evil?" he asked, sounding like enough of a joke to get away with it, but legitimately asking because… _eh_ , it never hurt.

Not that he expected a brain-washed Shane to actually answer yes.  Though it would be refreshing.

Or, more likely, it would probably put him on edge.

There was a hesitation before Shane figured out he should actually answer, if merely to humor Hunter, "…nope."

Sounded about right.

With a shrug, Hunter pulled the door open and quickly sidestepped to allow Shane entrance, ignoring the _"Really, that's how you check for evil?"_ look he received (or some variation thereof).

As Shane weighed his options for sitting vs. standing, Hunter cut across to the kitchen, grabbing two sodas out of the fridge.  Don’t get him wrong, it wasn’t to be homey or anything.  It was a calculated move, pure and simple.  Shane would feel less inclined to leave once Hunter "splurged" on him with one of his and Blake's hard-earned beverages, so there was one thing. The other was that the red ranger would actually feel bad if he spilt anything on their hopeless excuse for a carpet, so rash moves _wouldn't_ be made, and then…

Well, Hunter was thirsty and he didn't hate Shane enough not offer him some kind of refreshment.

Yay, look at him getting all hospitable.

Never thought he'd see the day.

Hunter tossed the skater his beverage just as Shane decided to sit on the couch after all (like he _always_ did, but he thought it out _every time_ , for whatever reason) and settled down on the other end. 

The blond left plenty of room between them to cater to Shane's minor homophobic tendencies. Or maybe the guy was just repressed; though Hunter doubted he came to talk about that.  Even if he could totally see it.  See how the red ranger hadn’t know, he could appreciate the male persuasion so much, so of course he had to level-with/whine to/generally-bemoan his predicament.

That would be two members of team Ninja Storm that Hunter had switched to the other team.  He should make himself a scorecard or something. 

But the most likely option was that Shane was here to apologize, say they were cool, and then move on.  In the end, this would just turn out to be a funny little anecdote they could tell in the future when they were actually friends.

" _Hey, remember that time you fell in love with me?"_

" _Totally, I wanted your sexy-sexy body_ ** _so_** _bad."_

" _You tried to buy me flowers."_

" _Only to prove my absolute love and devotion to you…and your sexy-sexy body."_

" _Yeah, good times."_

" _Indeed."_

Perhaps he was overestimating Shane's ability to take a joke.

Yeah, just a _little_.

"We've treated you like crap."

The declaration was so far off base from anything Hunter had been expecting that he had to physically restrain himself from doing a double take, as though that would assist any hearing inconsistencies.  The blond cocked his head to the side, fingers twitching in the desire to rub at his ear.

And…wait.  Nope.

Hunter stared at the red ranger curiously, wondering what the hell he was going on about. "What?"

Guilty eyes met his (because Shane was the epic king of guilty eyes, he needed a trophy or something) and the red ranger sighed, tilting his head in that sorrowful way that was straying a little too close to pity for Hunter to be comfortable.

Shane elaborated, "We - the team, and me - we've treated you badly. I'm sorry."

Well… _yeah_. 

Undoubtedly yeah.  That was- well, obvious.  A running-trend kind of obvious.  A we-can-joke-about-it-now kind of obvious.

Clearly, Hunter hadn't been crying himself to sleep over it, so he wasn’t entirely sure why Shane felt the need to address it _now_.

 It was water under the bridge, the function of Hunter in team Ninja Storm, and he was okay with it.

But clearly Shane _wasn’t_.  Hunter had a feeling that his explanation would not be well-received by the red ranger, so he kept it to himself.  Maybe this was just the first step to Shane somehow bringing it back around to the love potion incident.  Hunter actually _wanted_ to talk about that now.

Sadly, Shane didn't look like he was going to be receptive to a change in subject _either_ , so Hunter settled for echoing his initial query and hoping that logic and reason would re-instate themselves.

"What?"

Cue Shane with more guilt and sorrowful eyes. "You came into this willing to trust us, willing to work with us, but instead of treating you like a friend, we treated you like crap.  I'm sorry."

_Danger, danger, sensitive subject alert with person of semi-authoritative and knowledgeable position, suggest evasive action_.

But Shane was on a roll. "Because even if you act like you don't care, you do.  And…we'll treat you better, from now on."

And because _now_ would be the time to deflect and move on, Hutner’s mouth decided to get in on the action, saying the first thing that popped into his mind, "Have you been talking to Dustin?"

It felt like a very relevant question.

Seriously, Dustin was a schemer; Hunter should have seen this coming. Of _course_ Dustin couldn’t keep a secret, not from Shane, the super-est-super hero _ever_. He had probably hopped right on over (and Hunter wouldn't put actual _hopping_ past the brunette) to spill the news to Shane the moment they had finished mocking Blake for his ' _delicate hetero sensibilities'_.

At least, that was what _he_ did. Dustin had just laughed along with him, but the thought was nice.

"What does Dustin know?"

Curiously, Shane appeared to be just as surprised as Hunter. 

Well, wasn’t that just _swell_.

Hunter gave him a justly incredulous look. “You guys seriously didn't plan this?"

They _had_ to have planned this. It was too much of a coincidence otherwise.

Shane frowned and furrowed his eyebrows, as though the idea of Dustin being in on something he did not know rattled his very soul. "What does Dustin _know_?"

Hunter scoffed.  Glared.  Rolled his eyes.  It was a very impressive combination. "There's no way in _hell_ -"

"What are you talking about?"

Shane’s confused expression was not adorable.  To repeat, it was _not_ adorable.

"What am I-?" Hunter sputtered; literally _sputtered_ (he hadn't known he was capable of such foolishness). "What the hell are _you_ talking about? I thought you were going to be freaking out over the love potion thing!"

Because that would've made _sense_.

Shane blinked, temporarily thrown, and then…waved it off.

Just, _waved it off_.

"I did that,” Shane explained – they were _explaining_ things now.  “And then I realized _this-_ "

No.   _No._ , Shenanigans, this was stupid-

Shane wasn't just deflecting the issue, he was ignoring it _completely_ and throwing _it_ back at Hunter as a way of dodging his supreme aversion to man-sex and man-sex-like ideas.

And _that_ \- damn, that pissed him off. Hunter didn't want his issues (no, this _wasn't_ an issue) being used to someone else's advantage.

That wasn't cool; he had thought more of Shane.

The blond glared at the red ranger and crossed his arms, putting on his no-bullshit face. "I really want to know what one has to do with the other."

Shane sighed. "I was thinking about _you_."

Hunter wanted to reply, he was ready, had the words sitting on the edge of his tongue but- he shut down as soon as he processed Shane’s reply, anger dying almost immediately.  He wanted to be angry, he did, but…he was just really, really confused.

The idea of someone thinking about _him_ for an extended period of time would never be something he was comfortable with, how the hell was he supposed to respond to that?

Okay, new plan.  Time to change the subject and work with an emotion he _could_ get a handle on, one that would give him back the upper hand.  If he could guilt Shane, the red ranger would _have_ to back down and they wouldn’t have to talk about this again. Or, Shane wouldn’t get to talk about this a _first_ time.

It wasn't like it was with Dustin - the brunette was more naive and didn't know better, he have would accepted things as they were and let go just to keep Hunter happy. But Shane?  Nope.  Shane would analyze and understand the long-term effects of things; alter his opinions forever, adapt to Hunter, to these responses and Hunter _didn't_ want that, he didn't want to let someone in who could so much damage.

If that was the goal, Hunter had screwed up.

Friendship, loathed as he was to admit it, happened to be a two-way street.  While Hunter had become more familiar with the inner workings of Shane, the skater had schooled himself on the intricacies of the crimson ranger.  He had to be able to see that the blond wanted him to back off.

So naturally, he didn't.

Shane pulled out a soothing tone (that Hunter hated, on principal). "I was thinking about how you never get angry for yourself.  How you're never surprised when we slight you, how you never _care_."

"It doesn't matter," Hunter snapped, grip tightening against his arms. 

The skater gave him a patient look. "Yes, it _does_. We're a team, a family.  Everyone-"

"I swear,” Hunter began, uncrossing his arms to point at the red ranger threateningly. “If you say we should all love each other, I'm going to punch you in the throat right _now_."

Life wasn't like some kid's show; it didn't have a story book ending. Not everyone came out winners.

Shane held up his hands, placating, and immediately dropped them when he saw that they had the opposite effect.

Yeah, Hunter's rage could not be contained by mere _hand gestures._

As though he could hear his thoughts, Shane frowned. "No one's happiness should have to be sacrificed."

"How do you know I'm not happy?" Hunter shot back, glaring.

"Are you?"

Hunter froze, not expecting the response.

It wasn't fair. If he was or if he wasn’t, did it matter?

Ultimately, _no_ , it didn't, because if it had _mattered_ then someone would have cared before _now._  But they hadn’t, so it didn’t, and everyone was _fine_. 

Hunter didn't care, so he _was_ happy, because there was no way for him to _not_ be happy because he didn't care, he _didn't_ care, he _didn't_ ** _care._**

He felt his jaw clench, and he turned his head away, staring at the far wall. "I'm fine."

_Weakness_.

He heard Shane lean forward. "Fine's not-"

"Fine is _fine_ ," Hunter spat, glaring back at the other ranger so he wouldn't come any closer. "There's nothing wrong with it." It was the story of his life. Was Shane going to look down on that too? "You're making a big deal out of nothing."

Shane frowned; mild aggravation nothing compared to the storm Hunter had brewing. "I'm making a big deal out of emotions you _should_ be feeling? I'm concerned, sorry-"

That was _it_.

"Then why the _hell_ did it take you so long?!"

Hunter didn’t catch himself until the words had come out, the explosion almost pulled out of him with graceless intensity.

_Shit, shit, shit, shit_.  He hadn’t meant to say that.  Hadn’t-

Annoyed, Hunter abandoned the couch altogether, pulling away so Shane wouldn't see his surprise.

So this denial thing wasn't really working, but Hunter _had_ been happy. He had been fine all his life, all he had needed was Blake and he was good.

So why did he want more now? Why did he feel- why did he feel anything? He shouldn't, this _shouldn't_ -

Shane had stood up behind him but was keeping his distance, studying the back of the crimson ranger as though it held all his secrets. "I didn't care before."

It was a simple statement.  But damned if it wasn’t effective.

It shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did.  It shouldn’t have even registered, but Hunter felt like he had been punched in the gut, like all the air had been squeezed out of him.

Pointedly, he kept his back towards Shane.  There was no way to tell how much of this was playing out on his face, and wouldn’t Shane just love that?  To see the inner turmoil of his pet crimson ranger?

Shane hadn’t moved forward, but he still _kept_ ** _talking_**. "I didn't care because you intimidated me," he announced. "I didn't care, because I was afraid you were better than me, that you would take my team from me, and I would lose them to you. So I hated you, for a bit."

There was another sigh - sorrow, not exasperation - guilt, over _Hunter_ , though he shouldn't be special because it was about time, really, he wasn't.

"But that was never your goal," Shane finished, understanding. "You don't want trouble. You-"

"If you say ‘ _Want somebody to love’,_ I. Will. _Hurt_. You." Hunter murmured, using the joke to regain some of the ground he had lost in this conversation, which didn't happen, it had _never_ happened.

_He_ was supposed to have the upper hand.  W _hy_ had he let it come this far?   _Why_ had he allowed himself to be verbally dissected?   _Why_ was he even admitting (physically because he couldn't do it vocally) to truth in _any_ of Shane's words?  He hadn't done that _before_.

Shane took a step forward, causing Hunter to tense, ready to sprint towards the door if he had to.  He was at that point.

"Family," Shane offered.

It was so perfectly stupid only a human being like Shane could utter it with such complete sincerity that it sounded relevant.  Like the word could possibly hold any meaning in relation to Hunter.

Once upon a time, he _had_ a family.  He had already _lost_ part of it.  Why would he ever bother with _more_ and _why was Shane still talking?_

"You just want to finally be able to put your guard down without being afraid of getting hurt," Shane continued. 

Guy was on a goddamn roll.  All of these, despite Hunter's protests, would be incredibly accurate assumptions to make. They weren't mysteries. Sure, Hunter wouldn't talk about it, but he hadn't _hidden_ it-

Okay, so he had, with his indifferent attitude but-

"You should go now," Hunter muttered, hands loose at his sides. 

His mind buzzed with the new information. He had to retreat; he needed time to think, or something, or to not-think.  It depended.

He turned back around to look for the other ranger's reaction, waiting to see if he was now "loved" enough to have his wishes respected.

There was a hesitation, Shane looking like he wanted object, but eventually the red ranger thought better of it.  He nodded, resigned to his expulsion, before making his way towards the door. He halted right in front of it, murmuring, in a perfect example of dramatics, "I am _so_ sorry."

He was, Hunter couldn't deny that.

The crimson ranger didn't look Shane’s way as he made his exit. He didn't look up from _that_ particular spot on the wall until he had to let Blake back in an hour later, his younger brother complaining about getting oil on his clothes. 

Hunter’s response was automatic, though his usual snips at Blake’s inability to avoid a mess seemed half-hearted at best.  He needed-

Functioning. Right. He should do that.

It wasn’t a problem.  He wouldn’t let it be one.  Hunter had managed to do it every day since his parents had died, and he wasn’t going to let Shane’s goody-two-shoes _bullshit_ ruin that record now.

Shit.  Now he was going be the one avoiding the other ranger now, wasn't he?

Go figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fine, I suppose you guys deserve some Shane-and-Hunter...resolution? Not really? They're dumb, is the point. 
> 
> Props to angelajoh for reminding me to update!
> 
> Until next time ;D


	30. Run Away

The punching bag hadn't done anything to earn the malicious barrage of fury drenched fist-smashings that Hunter was delivering unto its red, padded glory (aside from having the misfortune of being designed for such occupations), but the blond found that despite _not_ being the source of his anger, it was still quite easy to vent out his frustrations on the poor, inanimate object. The fact that it was red helped. Also, because of its location in Ninja Ops, Hunter could humor the assumption that the punching bag was Cam's by proxy, and since _their_ relationship pretty much thrived on not being nice to each other, Hunter could _almost_ convince himself that everything was business as usual, as opposed to…this.

He delivered the next punch with a little more force than necessary.

Not that the punching bag was going to tell anyone.

Hunter was beginning to see why this ignoring-crap-plan failed for all the other rangers so miserably. It really wasn't doing anything for him.

He _wanted_ it to, _oh_ -how he wanted it to, but _certain_ conversations kept attacking his mind when he was least expecting it, leaving him _thinking_ for hours. It was becoming difficult to sleep, and Hunter _loved_ sleeping. It had been one of his favorite pastimes. He didn't have to do anything, just lie down and-

And now Shane had taken even _that_ away from him.

The _bastard_.

Stupid Shane.

Stupid Shane and his stupid Shane-face.

Stupid Shane and his stupid, _stupid_ face that was all, " _Allow me to destroy your gruff, bad-boy, apathetic image with my_ ** _uberous_** _amounts of_ ** _love_** _and_ ** _caring_** _."_

Okay, so maybe Hunter was pushing it with the love part, but-

The point was that Shane was stupid. _He_ was _supposed_ to mope and be confused by the love potion so that Hunter could coddle him and then have a laugh at his expense.  That had been the plan.  And then, afterward, the crimson ranger would smack him upside the head and they would be cool. Simple as that.

But _instead,_ the stupid leader had gone and turned the tables on Hunter and now _he_ was the one dealing with confusing emotional times that he _shouldn't_ be having, and no one was laughing.

To be fair - if they had, Hunter would have punched them.

He wasn’t even sure why he was so mad, honestly.  It wasn't like the " _Hate on Hunter_ " thing had been private knowledge. It made sense that _someone_ would eventually apologize, maybe, and then Hunter could be let in on team-happy-fun-time, but for some odd reason when Shane had-

It didn’t make any sense. Hunter hadn't felt this way when Dustin had apologized. He had welcomed _that_ , so why was this bothering him now? What difference did it make? So what, now Shane was going to treat him like a decent human being with feelings and stuff, and pay attention to his emotions and mushy things like that, and take care of him and-

No, _no, no, no_ , scratch the last part, stupid mind, he hadn’t worded that right.

Shane would take care of Hunter’s _social_ interactions.  _There_ , not him specifically.

Was that why Hunter was so bothered by this? Because of a mental lapse? Because he was making this out to be bigger than it actually was? Shane was just being himself, being a good leader and friend, because that was what Shane _did._ _W_ hy should Hunter be surprised that the red ranger suddenly felt bad about things that Hunter had never outwardly cared about?

The playing field was changing, things were getting more serious, and Hunter didn't like that.

Before, when neither of them had really addressed Hunter's feelings on anything really deep or meaningful that concerned him, everything was safe. Shane was a nice distraction, entertaining - dare he say - a good friend. But now that things were more normal, Hunter was-

He didn't even know. He didn't know _why_ and it was bugging the hell out of him. It was just Shane. All he did was address a matter that was close to Hunter ( _‘close’ to me, good deflection mind, not like it was ALL about me or anything)_ , and try to make amends for it. The crimson ranger really didn't have much room to complain, he and Shane had worked through the red ranger's stupid issues plenty of times, and most of them were personal, so it was only fair that Shane would be a dick and try to reciprocate things that clearly didn’t require reciprocation.

Why did Shane have to ruin such a good thing?  That was Blake’s job; Shane had no right to violate the navy ranger’s sacred duties.  That was just greedy and rude, was what that was. 

And it had been a good thing, right? Why couldn't Shave have just like, mentally addressed the ‘issue’ (Hunter refused to put it in anything other than air quotes) and altered his behavior to make up for the problems he saw. Treat Hunter better without actually _telling_ him about it.

Hunter wouldn't have minded.  No seriously, he _wouldn’t_ have.  Sure, he would have been a little suspicious at first, but if Shane was as stubborn as Hunter _knew_ he was, the red ranger would have just stuck it out until the blond was forced to accept it and-

Hey, now _there_ was a thought.

Shane could change him.

Hunter stopped, fist hovering inches away from the punching bag's surface as the thought snuck up on him. He couldn’t focus on moving now, not when he was so busy regulating the mess inside his head. 

That shouldn’t have taken him by surprise; he _should_ have been paying more attention-

Kind of like he should have been paying more attention to Shane.

While Dustin had snuck into his good graces, now that Hunter looked back on it, Shane had practically teleported himself there, settling in nice and comfortable before Hunter had even caught on.

That _bastard_ had completely lowered Hunter’s without him _even realizing it_ _._ And that was the problem, that was what was bothering Hunter.  The fact that he hadn’t even been aware when Shane made the transition from object-of-mild-amusement to individual-to-be-slightly-cared-about.

They were friends. And not in the way Hunter and Tori were friends (as in, they shared a minor joy of poking fun at Blake and weren’t complete assholes to each other) but like, _good_ friends. Hunter actually _liked_ spending time with the stupid lug.  And, despite his protests, he looked forward to dealing with Shane’s ‘ _tomfoolery’_ (Dustin's word of the week).  

And when the skater wasn't busy being an absolute moron, he was actually good company.  Next to Blake, he-

No.   _No_. Hunter was _not_ comparing his relationship with Shane to the one he had with Blake.  It wasn't nearly as important.  It didn't matter as much - _couldn’t_ matter as much.  There were _boundaries_.

Blake and Hunter’s relationship had been forged through years of combating differing abuses in the company of people too generous and too wonderful to have ever been taken from this world.   _Their_ relationship was deeper than that of a family, stronger than blood.  Their lives, while varied in their beginnings, were burdened with a kind of understanding that literally _no one else_ could ever hope to comprehend on such an intimate level.  Blake was Hunter’s brother, his rock.

Shane was just some do-gooder dumbass who still got all hand-wavy at the mention of homosexuality. 

Hunter growled - probably, maybe - let out _some_ kind of carnal cry before he let loose out another series of punches against the stupid red punching bag that was such a poor substitute for the one person he _actually_ wanted to punch.

Something like that couldn’t be ignored.  Hunter could always try, of course, but if attempting to ignore it rendered him _this_ ineffective, it wasn’t going to do him much good in the long run.

Now he knew, as much as he hated it.  And he did hate it, with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. Shane _was_ important and Hunter _did_ care about him.  He liked it when Shane was happy because, by some bizarre extension, that made _him_ happy and-

_Shit,_ when had he become so messed up?

Relatively speaking, of course.  Hunter was pretty sure the average individual did not regularly ruminate on the most appropriate murder tactics against the backstabbing psychos that orphaned them at age twelve, so a little leniency was going to have to be extended in this instance.

Hunter gave the bag one last jab to let it know it hadn't won; he wasn't surrendering, before he leaned his forehead against the red material, using his arms to brace himself against the plastic-y cloth.

So…

Shane was important. _That was only about as painful to admit as ripping out a kidney without any kind of anesthesia.  Perfect._

But also _true_.

Okay, so Shane was important (because _feelings_ ), but that wasn't anything worth freaking out about. _Everyone_ on the team was important, they were Power Rangers.  If anything happened to them, the fate of the world hung in the balance.  It was reasonable for Shane to be important.  But…

Hunter knew, through the growing sense of unease – he just _knew_ that Shane’s importance was slighter greater than that of an average ranger leader. He was important to _Hunter_ , in specific. Because he was a friend.

He was important enough to be ranked next to Blake.

A part of Hunter that had been quiet for a very long time desperately wanted to label Shane as a 'best friend' - but Hunter had thrived in sarcasm for so long that he couldn't dare do it _and_ take himself seriously. It was too terrifying a concept.

Shane was an important friend. Who Hunter cared about.

He was capable of changing Hunter.  Maybe for the better.

Shane was a friend.  A friend who Hunter had unknowingly adapted to, in order to make what they had worked better- but also not, because changing for anyone else wasn't something Hunter _did,_ and it sure as hell wasn't something he’d do for Shane.

Shane was someone who Hunter wanted to have around, who Hunter actually sought out because being alone _wasn't_ better than being with Shane (sickening, that thought, but true), because he was comfortable with him, entertained by him, respected by him.

Cared for, by him.

Which was stupid, Shane cared about everyone.

That same part from earlier wanted to insist that _maybe_ Hunter was cared for just a bit _more_.

Slowly, Hunter brought his head back and whacked it against the bag, forehead aching, but thoughts resolute.

Shane could hurt him, which was something Hunter had tried desperately hard to ensure _couldn’t_ happen.  Tried, and failed apparently, as it seemed the blond sucked at that tactic as far as red rangers were concerned.  

He hadn't registered Shane as a threat, and _now_ look at what that had gotten him. Now, instead of witty banter and easy conversation, Shane had upped the goddamn ante. They had gone from superficial friendship to an actual platonic relationship.

He had gotten a _real_ friend. Someone he could dump his problems on that wasn't Blake.

And as great as Dustin was - because Hunter couldn't _not_ consider Dustin a real friend now – the brunette wasn't Shane.

Shane was different, not because he was more grounded in reality (though that helped) he was just-

Alright, fuck this.

Enough was enough for one evening, Hunter couldn't _handle_ anymore.  He didn’t want to think about it, so he wouldn’t.

Instead, he went back to smacking the hell out of the poor punching bag until he was too tired to think clearly, intent on continuing his vicious attack until all he could do was drag himself home and pass out. Maybe then he could get his peaceful sleep back.

With thoughts like that, he had practically earned himself a smack down from fate, who was apparently of a differing opinion.

"What did he do?"

Hunter froze, steadying the bag after one of his more enthusiastic kicks.  He turned to see his brother hovering near the gym's entrance, Blake making a show of  locking the door behind him because he was a drama queen like that. He wore a bored but serious face, determination subdued - but ever present - in his eyes.

Hunter knew that look.  He knew that look all too well. Blake busted it out every time they had one of their few and far between discussions of a most _painfully_ honest nature. They didn't happen often, but they _did_ occur, and somehow his brother managed to find the _one_ time that it would be the most inconvenient to engage in one.

Seriously, the rest of them had to be passing notes or something. This many heart-to-hearts did _not_ happen coincidentally.

Unless you were Hunter, in which case they _found_ you because they knew where they weren't wanted.  Like cats.

_Stupid feelings_.

He used to be able to handle these things better.

"Not you too," he grumbled, giving the punching bag one last halfhearted jab before turning to face his brother, wiping the sweat that had accumulated from his brow.

That got him a pissy frown that informed him Blake would not be distracted by Hunter’s comments and that further attempts to avoid their conversation would not be allowed. No, Blake had now moved on to his 'bitch face', and would not be denied.

He straightened his back and started ticking off points on his fingers.

"The door is locked,” Blake began quietly. “The others are busy, I convinced Cyber Cam to turn off the cameras.  Now, what did _Shane do_?" He gave Hunter a challenging look, as though begging the blond to deny that something had happened.

While Hunter knew his brother had the best intentions - and like _hell_ was he going to let Shane mess up anything between he and Blake – that fact didn't make this conversation any easier.

It probably would have helped his _‘nothing is wrong’_ case more if he had actually stuck to what he and Blake had been invited to Ninja Ops to do, instead of sneaking away to beat the shit out of a punching bag. With Thanksgiving just around the corner (Hunter hadn’t really noticed because he and Blake stopped celebrating that a while ago, kind of just felt mocking), Tori had suggested they get together and bake pies for the holiday for team-building/warm-squishy-feelings-being-spread-around time.

So…yeah, Hunter had lasted all of five minutes in the same room as Shane before he had declared himself the pie-making anti-Christ and swiftly retreated (like a _real_ _man_ ) to do activities didn't require thinking.  Or Shane.  In hindsight, this was probably a terrible idea. He should have stuck with the pies.

At least pies didn't judge you.

Hunter had thought he had been cool enough about his retreat, but clearly, if the others had sent Blake to chat with him, the crimson ranger hadn’t been as chill as he would have liked.

But back to the matter at hand.

What had Shane done? 

Nothing, really.  Not when it had mattered.

It was close enough to the truth.

"Nothing important," Hunter insisted.  Calmly, smoothly.

His effort was for not, the reply earned him a scowl and a “ _oh really, so that was someone **else** who ducked out of pie making like a champ?"_ -esque face that really spread the scowling mood.

Hunter tried again, "Look, really, I'm just over-thinking it. You know how I am with relationships and… _feelings_ and stuff."

If anyone knew, it was Blake.  He had firsthand experience with Hunter's emotional handicaps. 

For some reason though, this only caused his brother to look more agitated.  Which, you know, kind of pissed Hunter off because it was _true_ , he was just being a moron - but hey, for all he knew his little brother's anger could be aimed at Shane now.

That would be nice.

Blake hesitated for a moment and shifted his weight, gaze skittering off to the side, hesitant. "Is this about what happened with the love potion?"

_See_ , Hunter wasn't the only one who thought that made sense.

The crimson ranger laughed and slouched back against the punching bag, mock holding his ribs.  See how _funny_ it was? "I wish."

"So, it's not?" Blake tilted his head and slowly moved forward, positioning himself on the other side of the bag.

"Nope."

Not even kind of.

“For him."

The comment was subdued, quiet and dangerous just like Blake's true nature was - not the boisterous thing he put on for public - but the ninja that was _always_ vigilant.

Hunter paused, studying his brother closely.

He did _not_ like where this was going.

"What's that mean?" he asked, voice mimicking the same low tone.

Attempts at casual be damned, it was _on_ now.

He never had to deflect Blake before, but this wasn't territory they had ever reached either.

His brother’s face betrayed nothing, he knew Hunter's mask too well. "But it is for you," he said bluntly, and the little shit actually believed it.

"Did you hit your head?" Hunter wanted to laugh, it was absurd – no, _beyond_ absurd, but-

Blake thought that _he_ was hung up on the love potion thing? That- what?  Hunter missed his Shane slave/number one worshiper?

Blake set his jaw, a frustrated reaction that only Hunter could goad from him. "I followed you," he explained.  The lack of specification was enough for Hunter to know he was referring to when Shane had gotten love-potioned. "After he…" - _felt you up and scarred my poor, widdle eyeballs -_ "I wanted to make sure he didn't get close again."

Translation: Blake wanted to make sure Shane didn't get fresh again.

And this wasn’t- this wasn’t bigotry or homophobia or anything.  Hunter knew that had Shane been a girl, Blake would have still come out of the ordeal just as rattled.  They were family, and while Blake, in an abstract way, supported the idea of Hunter pursuing a romantic relationship with a person one hundred percent.  Conceptually, he was there.  But in practice, there was some kind of ‘ _you-partially-raised-me’_ barrier in place that still gave his brother the heebie jeebies.

Were Hunter pressed, he would say it had something to do with Blake’s overprotective instincts regarding things he generally cared about.  He fought for what he loved (mom, dad, Hunter, himself) with a passion born of desperation, worn down by the constant fear that the universe would take it away if he failed. 

Hunter had it too, knew the unspeakable need as well, but he had nothing on Blake.  His brother had been raised in terrible abuse whereas Hunter had just been neglected.  Neither were pleasant, or justified, or adequate, but Blake was more aware of the terrible alternatives to what they eventually had gotten, whereas Hunter had just been forced to take care of himself from an early age.  No one else was going to do it for him.

And it didn’t help, Hunter knew, that that Shane may or may not slightly remind Blake of one of his less-enjoyable caretakers from his pre-Bradley time (though that seemed like a pretty easy criteria to fall into when they were literally _all_ shit) when he wasn’t a hundred percent in his headspace.  It was a declaration admitted in quiet shame, his head tucked against his chest, posture Hunter could discern even in the darkness of their apartment, each Bradley tucked away in their own cheap sleeping bags. 

Shane would never be whoever Blake was reminded of, _never_ – but when the navy ranger was exhausted, when he was stressed, or worried, and mad, sometimes-

He saw the resemblance from the corner of his eye, and it was enough to freeze him up.

Apparently worrying about your brother being potentially molested took you a bit off your A-game.  It wasn’t unreasonable, but it did lead to crap like this. 

Blake's frown deepened. "I saw what he did, and what you-" His gaze turned back, and this time he was certain, resolute. "You like him."

The moment seemed to dive into a tense, unpleasant silence.

In their messed up world, ‘ _You like him_ ’ was the equivalent of expressing your undying love for someone and pledging eternal devotion.  It might seem like a tenuous connection to make, but bear with Hunter.  " _Love_ " wasn't really a word the Bradleys could master, so they went with "like".

Like how Blake "liked" Tori, or how their mom "liked" their dad.

Blake thought _Hunter_ "liked" Shane- and while Shane _did_ build up a lot of unnecessary conflicting emotions, Hunter was pretty damn sure it wasn't because he "liked" the bastard. 

And really, he couldn't deal with thinking otherwise. Or, he could, but then Hunter would have to admit that he was willing to kill for someone other than Blake, and the mere thought of that terrified him.

He could communicate this- normally, he _would_ communicate this to Blake, the same as he always did – but for some reason the first words out of his mouth just _happened_ to be a deflection.

"You _did_ hit your head."

Albeit, not one of his better ones.

The stunned and hurt look on Blake's face was quickly covered up, and despite it being his doing, Hunter mentally vowed his hatred for Shane once more.

The feelings of guilt were worth shit though, as the bitch face had reengaged. "I'm your brother; the least you can do is-"

"Are you freaking delusional? Yeah, you know what?  _Fine_ , I'm a little lonely, but I do _not_ have the hots for Shane."

_Why_ did other people keep wanting to tell him how _he_ felt? He got it, he wasn’t emotionally gifted, he lacked communication with his inner spirit or whatever mumbo-jumbo they wanted to call it, but he _was_ capable of discerning the little things. He wasn't completely _inept_.

Blake pushed forward, ignoring Hunter's personal bubble and crowding into his space. "Can you seriously say that?  I _saw-_ "

"I don't know what you saw," Hunter growled, pushing at his brother’s chest. "But it sure as hell wasn't _that_."

"Then what's the problem?"

"Right now," Hunter barked. “ _You_."

There was a small silence, and then Blake took a step back.

Hunter knew the moment he had said it that he had gone too far.  Blake immediately pulled away as though he had been physically struck, eyes wounded and angry.

He left as quietly as he came, only his shoulders voicing his betrayal, and soon Hunter was alone again, just like he wanted.

It wasn't nearly as satisfying as he had hoped it would be.

Yeah, happy Thanksgiving. Family and friends and good times for all.

He was currently lacking in all of those, and it was his own damn fault. Only _Hunter_ could pull that off so spectacularly.

Frustrated, he turned back towards the punching bag and wailed on it once more, trying to distract himself from the fact that he would be going home to an empty apartment tonight. He didn't look up when he heard hurried footsteps pounding against the hallway floor, knew with _that_ much concern and enthusiasm it had to be Dustin, a fact that was immediately confirmed when the yellow ranger burst into the room, covered in flour and – surprise of all surprises – mildly upset.

Yeah, so the others had been ‘busy’ after all, busy waiting to see the outcome of an intimate Bradley moment. They had probably ditched pie duty as soon as Blake had left to go check on Hunter.

"Dude," Dustin began, glancing over his shoulder as though he could see Blake if he squinted really hard, regardless of the obstacle of _walls_. "Did you and Blake _fight_?"

Hunter had to pause at the other ranger’s tone.  Dustin had said it as though it were the most unbelievable thing in the world.

Well, that was a stupid assumption.  They _were_ human. They fought, sometimes.

The blond was saved from formulating a proper response when Shane and Cam trailed into the room behind Dustin, matching looks of concern striking something raw within Hunter, raising his hackles almost immediately.

"What happened?" Shane asked, because he was a stupid boy scout, leader-man who was concerned for everyone but himself, and _stupid_ , and the red ranger better be really glad that Hunter had beaten against this _stupid_ punching bag so much because he was really getting a hankering for smashing a certain someone's _face_.

"What happened?" Hunter echoed sarcastically. " _You_ happened." He lunged forward, thrusting a finger at Shane's chest. "You and your _stupid_ face…"

He trailed off, realizing from the shocked look on their faces that he had allowed himself to be completely compromised by his emotions.  He had lashed out from the sudden build up of people picking apart and analyzing _his_ insides.  There was no control, no thought, just words spilling out on their own accord.

He wasn't used to this much attention, and it had finally gotten to him.

Hunter shook his head, suddenly weary.  He wasn’t sure what to do, what walls he needed to put up for damage control.

A touch interrupted his battle planning – a hand gingerly groping at his arm.  When he turned his attention to the owner he found Dustin, who, surprisingly enough, looked the most collected and understanding of Hunter's three remaining teammates.

It was nice.  Unexpected, but nice. The unflinching support there. A quiet comfort.

So Dustin might not be the most aware person in the world, but he was honest, and earnest, and _wanted_ to help, and he…he was Hunter's friend.

It also seemed he was also the only one that was currently willing to put up with the blond.

Shaken but refusing to show it, Hunter grabbed Dustin's hand and pulled him out of the room, choosing to make a strategic retreat. The hardest thing to learn about fighting was to know when you had to cut your losses, but Hunter didn’t have the pride to think this situation could improve by remaining in Ninja Ops.  Not with Shane around.

Dustin caught on to what was happening a few seconds in and pulled ahead, guiding Hunter merrily as they made it to…wherever Dustin was going. Hunter actually hadn't set a path in mind, so it was good _someone_ had an idea.

On the bright side, he had probably ruined Cam's night a _little_ , so, there was _that_.

It didn't bring Hunter as much comfort as he would have liked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many. God damn. Ellipses. 
> 
> I swear, I used to be an ellipses addict or something. Now it’s all about the hyphens :)
> 
> Until next time


	31. I Know Things Now

He made a mistake.

Blake _knew_ he had made a mistake, entering one of _those_ conversations with Hunter without planning it properly. And then he had allowed his emotions to get in the way.  It was a recipe for disaster, but how could he have expected it?  He’d never _had_ to keep himself in check before, and even if it might have been necessary, Hunter was usually in a headspace where he was, maybe not necessarily _open_ to having a real conversation, at least accepting the fact it needed to be done. 

Considering the fact that they had never entered a set of circumstances like this before, it was sort of understandable for things to stray from their usual pattern.

Still, he had made a mistake.

Blake could accept that.

He shouldn't have let Hunter boss him out of the room (whether his brother had been aware of it or not, that was what he had been doing), because _both_ of them were in unfamiliar territory.  They had both kind of acted like idiots because of it. That wasn't an opinion, that was a fact. Hunter had tried to duck around Blake’s concerns and treat him like one of the others and the navy ranger had…well, he had reacted badly.

In Hunter's defense, there had been a lot of buildup to lead to that particular reaction.

The thing was, Blake wasn't against homosexuality. He supported Hunter. Gender shouldn't matter, love was love. Blake would like to think that if Tori just happened to be a guy, he would still love her. Being a girl helped, but he loved her for _her_. So it wasn't that he was against Hunter loving Shane. Or "liking" Shane, or "having a fondness" for Shane, or "hanging out" with Shane, or whatever the hell they were calling it this week. Blake was cool with it. Hunter deserved to be happy; he had a lot of crap thrown at him in his life. It was justified; Blake had encouraged it, but just…

Thinking something, theorizing something and seeing it in action were completely different things. Blake knew that he would eventually Hunter.  Not completely, it wasn’t like his brother would evaporate into thin air or slip away into the infinite cosmos of existence- just that they couldn't be 'Blake and Hunter' forever. It wouldn't _just_ be them. Eventually (and it had already started), they would find someone. Someone important, someone they wanted to share their life with.

It was only natural.

Blake had found Tori, and _what_ had Hunter done when it became obvious that Blake's interest was more than just a passing fad? The crimson ranger had supported him, encouraged Blake in his own (convoluted) way.  He hadn't complained. He was willing to share Blake with Tori because he knew that was what Blake wanted.

Fast forward a couple some-odd weeks, when there was this inkling of a _thing_ that Hunter wasn’t even completely aware of coming to light, and…well, Blake knew what it meant. It meant that the 'eventually' he had been expecting was approaching soon, and, if he were being honest, that freaked him out. The sanctity, the solidarity that was 'Blake and Hunter' was going to have to be shared. And Blake _knew_ he shouldn't be upset, knew he should be happy and supportive and care and should give Hunter a wake up call and he _tried_ to do that but then he just…he got scared.

Hunter hadn't when it had been his turn. He was stronger than Blake.

The navy ranger never voiced these concerns, but it was an undeniable fact. He wasn't nothing by any means, he wasn't weak, but Hunter was always better. It was irrefutable. Hunter was older, somehow those few extra months culminating into years of knowledge that Blake had to play catch-up on. Hunter accepted that things were going to be different one day. That things were changing.

It was natural, but that didn't mean-

Blake was stupid. He had made a mistake.  He shouldn't have gotten mad. Hunter needed him; he needed _someone,_ because he sure as hell wasn't doing well on his own.

The navy ranger sighed, rubbing the side of his head.

It seemed like their whole lives had been a mess that they had to clean up, but as detached from normal problems as they were, they always managed to find _something_. It was like there was always something to fight. People, concepts, money, survival, the weather - always _something_.

They fought through it together, and Blake would be damned if he abandoned his brother now just because _he_ felt like being an idiot.

And this had nothing to do with barely-similar appearances out of the corner of his eye in bad lighting or on an off-day.  Nothing to do with a face Blake hadn’t seen and years and would never see again, because that would be an unforgivable disservice against Shane.  Seeing the hints of someone else’s features on Shane’s face was emotional baggage on his part- they didn’t even look that similar, and-

It was nothing, so there was no use thinking about it further.  That was the end of that.

The calming presence beside Blake said nothing, knew it was unnecessary, and for what felt like the millionth time, Blake thanked whatever it was out there that helped him find Tori.

It should feel stranger, being this well _known_ by someone else - for her to realize his needs with such easy familiarity that he never had to voice them. She just _knew_.

Blake should be concerned, but he wasn't. He loved it.  

And…as mildly disturbing as that could be for Blake, it had to be much worse for Hunter. To let someone in.

Now _that_ was an idea with merit.

Maybe Blake wasn't as big an idiot as he previously thought.

He stood up from his Cliffside perch in one fluid motion, Tori following his example silently.  She had a knowing look on her face, as though she recognized that Blake finally had a game plan set. Things weren't better, but they would get there. One step at a time.

Step one would be to get back to Ninja Ops.

Odds were that Hunter had already left unless one of the others managed to calm him down. Considering that 'one of the others' included Shane, that was highly doubtful. Still, it was Blake's best lead.  He should probably find out what happened after he had left, anyway.  He could reevaluate and move from there.  Either Hunter would need time to calm down, or this would be the best opportunity to barrage his brother.  Get the worst of it over so that things could get better.

Shane would thank him in the-

Wait.

_Hell_ , Blake hadn't thought of that.

The navy ranger had no idea how Shane felt about anything. The leader liked everyone, valued their friendships and maintained them with enough attention and affection that Blake, frankly, found it a little disturbing. It was weird, and not in the Dustin-weird way, but in an uncomfortably-odd manner.

Whatever, that was unimportant. The fact was that to this point, Shane had appeared completely unprepared/unwilling/uninterested in romantic endeavors. Hunter knew more than Blake did, but…

One thing at a time. They would cross that bridge when they got to it.

But if Shane hurt Hunter in _any_ way, the red ranger would find himself in considerable lack of _legs_.

Fact.

Plots of hypothetical payback hatching in his mind, Blake set back off for Ninja Ops, his faithful shadow following a few steps behind him.

-:-:-:-:-:-

An uneasy silence fell over Shane and Cam as the crimson and yellow rangers made their escape, retreating to God knew where. Cyber Cam happily informed them when they had exited Ninja Ops, and as much as Shane wanted to, he restrained the urge to ask Cam to track them. Trust, and space, that was what they needed right now. It was what _everyone_ needed.

The red ranger could see Cam visibly arguing with himself. Ethics over trust. The tech wanted to know too. Shane tried to shoot the green ranger a look of disapproval, but all it earned him was an irritated glare.

He seemed to be getting a lot of those today.

With a sigh, Cam motioned the Air ninja out of the room, probably leading him back to the kitchen were the remnants of half-finished pies and a by-now-charred apple… _thing_ (Shane couldn't in good conscience call it a dessert anymore) remained.

His and the tech's relationship had improved since the rarely-talked about Cyber Cam incident. It wasn't what it had been, but the frigid avoidance was gone. Awkward, strained conversations had settled into a more casual atmosphere. They weren't stuck in the 'strictly professional'/ 'faking it for Dustin' mode they had settled into. It seemed that his presence was once more welcomed, and even though it wasn't _exactly_ the same (it would probably be awkward for everyone if Shane spent his nights cozying up to Dustin's boyfriend), the red ranger was grateful to have his friend back, in however limited a capacity.

The pie (blob, messy disgrace-thing) was burned, charred beyond repair, and Cam quickly dumped its sizzling and oozing black remains into the sink while Shane took care of the smoke, blowing it into an outtake vent to be released into the night. They were lucky the smoke alarm hadn’t gone off. The heat and smell would remain for awhile, but at least one problem was taken care of.

He and Cam silently agreed to the end of pie-making for that night as they began putting everything away, quiet peace disguising heavy thoughts. He didn't know how Cam was taking it, didn't know if he cared, but Shane felt unsteady. He didn't like having Hunter mad at him. Granted, he didn't like having _anyone_ mad at him, and he knew that there probably wasn't another way to express his concerns to Hunter before that had led the crimson ranger to _this_ , but Shane still didn't-

If he had just picked up on what was had been going on before, if he had just treated the blond nice _before,_ this wouldn't be happening.

Or maybe it would have. Maybe it would have just been something else. Perhaps this was meant to happen, for this rift to be created. Maybe they were destined to fight, and reconcile, and grow. Maybe it would even be for the better.

It didn't feel that way, but you know, _maybe_.

Hunter just needed time, needed some space to get his head straight. He needed the company of someone who wouldn't demand anything of him, and Dustin could do that. Shane wasn’t bitter about it; it was just the way things were. To be efficient in a team setting, you needed people doing what they did best.  It was a simple fact that Dustin fulfilled something for Hunter that Shane couldn't do right now. Maybe couldn’t ever fulfill.

It didn't matter; there was nothing to think about.

Was it so wrong to want to fix things now? Impatient, yes, but Shane didn't like letting it fester. Giving Hunter time to think, would he get angry (or, angrier)? Would he decide that Shane wasn't worth his time anymore?

_Stupid_ , he was making this about himself. Hunter had fought with Blake, not him. He had blown up at _Blake_ , not Shane.

Well, he had, but not first-

Who the hell was Shane kidding; they both knew it was his fault. The air ninja had stirred up bad feelings, Hunter was just displacing them. The red ranger wondered how angry Blake would be when he figured that one out. If he ever did.

Shane needed to get his mind off this stuff.

"So…" he began, trying to determine the best way to dispose of the pie-that-could-not-be-named. “I have a stupid face."

A few quiet moments followed, only disturbed as the tech stacked the appropriate ingredients back into the pantry.  Shane almost thought the green ranger was going to ignore his small attempt at conversation, and he guessed that wasn’t entirely unfair, given the fact that Cam’s relationship with Hunter was worse than-

There was a quiet huff. "It's not the worst I've seen."

Steam rose as Shane doused the ruined pastry demon with water, and he paused mid-wave when he fully processed the tech's reply. It was _almost_ playful. Not biting, or sarcastic (or not _too_ sarcastic), it was just Cam.

Apparently, Shane's epic failure with Hunter this evening was somehow counterbalanced with Cam agreeing to play nice with him.

Shane wasn’t going to lie, he didn't understand it, but he was past the point of questioning it.

His good fortune continued when Cam decided to keep talking, "He'll cool down eventually. Whatever their fight was, I doubt it was serious." Shane stared incredulously in the tech's direction, but Cam had been prepared for this response and held up a hand, beckoning the red ranger to hear him out. "They were bound to fight _sometime_. Right now, it appears that Hunter is angrier at _you_ than at Blake." He titled his head to the side, visually dissecting Shane as though he could find the answer if he just looked hard enough. "Now, why is that?"

It was curiosity, Shane decided - that never ending thirst for knowledge- not gossip, that drove Cam to ask. He wanted to be aware, wanted to be informed, there wasn't an emotional involvement. At least, Shane didn't think so. Cam and Hunter were never on the best of terms, but this time Cam looked like he legitimately wanted to know, not to use it against Shane or Hunter, just to-

Great, now Shane was going to start over thinking _everything._

Just wonderful.

The ranger could tell the story again, but he wanted Cam's insight on what he thought was the core of the problem, and he didn't want to allow for any distracting details.  In the end, he decided to keep it vague.

Vague wouldn't hurt.

Shane sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he grabbed at the ruined pie tin and chucked the abused creation into the garbage. "From what I gather, Hunter's not a big fan of people being interested in his feelings. And then addressing those feelings. Out loud. Seriously. Apparently, that is a no-no."

The never-to-be apple pie bid its last, awful smelling gurgle farewell before Shane slammed the trash lid closed, turning back in time to meet Cam's amused _'oh really'_ face that suggested he probably could have told Shane about _that_ particular outcome.

_Know-it-all._

"But that's what friends _do_ ," Shane lamented, attempting to defend himself. 

Cam was nice enough to give him a small, pitying look before he returned to wiping down the counters, flour and baking soda caked to the blue laminate.

"I think," Cam began after a few minutes of work where Shane totally didn't pout at him. "That there's more to it than that."

Shane leaned forward, eager to learn the treasures Cam was hiding, begging the tech to share with his eyes. He was unsuccessful, as Cam never looked up, but eventually the green ranger began speaking anyway, despite his efforts.

"I think that he isn't used to-"

"Alright, let's focus.  What happened?"

Shane nearly did a doubl- take as Blake reentered the kitchen, a smiling Tori in tow.  While he was glad the navy ranger seemed to have recovered from his fight with Hunter, if he had just moped for like, a _few_ more seconds, Shane would have been gifted with Cam knowledge and now-

First step, reevaluating the situation.

Cam wasn't going to share anything now.

_Damn_.

Shane discovered that Blake's question had been directed at him a few seconds later, when the thunder ranger continued to stare him down impatiently, and Shane had to shake off his disappointment and remember what the question _was_.

What happened? Right.

The first word that popped out of his mouth was, "When?"

Which wasn't well received, but in Shane’s defense, Blake had been pretty vague.

Also, on a less important note, he was not Shane's favorite right now.

The impatient stare-down evolved into an impatient glare. "After I left."

Oh, alright- that was actually a lot easier to answer. Shane was afraid that Blake was going to ask what he had done to make Hunter angry.

Cam, being once more on Team Shane, answered for him, "There was some yelling at Shane, and then he left with Dustin." On Blake's questioning look, Cam added, "Willingly, for both of them."

Blake nodded and processed this, clearly prepared to make amends for whatever he and Hunter had been fighting about.

"Great," he replied distractedly. "Where'd they go?"

This was directed at Cam, and Shane wouldn’t pretend not to be relieved, because he was very happy to _not_ be the focus of Blake's attention.

Cam shrugged, giving his best estimate. "Dustin's house, probably."

"Good," Blake mumbled.  With that, the room was suddenly less one blue ranger, Tori staying behind and watching the entrance of the kitchen with a fond smile.

So…would they be good now?

"Should we go?" Shane asked, unable to stop himself.

The other two rangers shook their heads.

"Give them space," Cam murmured, returning back to his counters.

Tori gave him a sympathetic look and squeezed Shane’s shoulder. "They can fix this one."

And they could, _this_ one, but the big problem, the main problem, was still for Shane and Hunter to address.

They'd get to it eventually, but for now…for now he had to wait.

As much as that killed him.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Well, this was nice.

Granted, it was also weird, and different, but Hunter supposed he could finally understand _why_ Shane was so clingy to the snuggle-you-better way of thinking without being overly vocal about it, because Hunter could admit it was just the _tiniest_ bit comforting to have someone who was just nearby that didn't want anything from you but for you feel better. But not in an overly-emotionally involved way, but in a _'why yes, it_ ** _is_** _nice to be physically embraced sometimes'_ kind of way.

Yes, there was nothing to over-think here.

On a less prominent note, Hunter had lost a smidgeon of respect he had for the other rangers once he was privileged his first viewing of Dustin's room, because _seriously,_ how could they have been surprised he was gay? Hunter didn't support stereotypes, but _come on_ ; there were neon signs that communicated more subtly than Dustin. Rainbow assortments of pillows, smiley face shower curtain, the _scarf._ Had they _seen_ the scarf? It was awful. Awful and wonderfully glorious at the same time. Hunter wanted to frame this scarf and treasure it for years to come, string it up above Blake's air mattress so he could have nightmares of rainbows chasing him down and threatening makeovers. The _scarf-_ Hunter couldn't even- and Shane had _bought_ it for the mechanic. He had _bought_ it on some kind of shopping outing for Tori, and Dustin had probably given him the biggest doe eyes and Shane had probably doubled back and-

And then he had the audacity to be _surprised_ that Dustin was gay. Seriously?

You know what?  Hunter regretted nothing, Shane _was_ stupid.

Except now it wasn't as maliciously intended as before, and despite Hunter attempts to stay angry at the stupid, _stupid_ \- he couldn't even think it anymore and stay angry, it was just so-

Cute. Could he use the word cute? Not in the flowers and puppies way, but in the Shane-meant-well, lovable, dimwitted blockhead-esque kind of cute that was just-

_Damn_.

He couldn't even stay mad at Shane. And Hunter was usually the master of that.

Shane was stupid. It shouldn't be endearing, but it _was_ endearing, so it was stupid. Out of the goodness of his heart, Shane had bought Dustin the world's most hideous scarf and thought nothing of it, because Shane didn't judge, he didn't care, he was just… _stupid_.

In Hunter's universe, that word was gradually developing a fonder meaning that it was never supposed to have. He couldn't even stay bitter.  It was pathetic. He was a pitiful excuse for a thunder ranger.

Dustin shifted beside him, readjusting his hold on the pillow clasped against his chest (green, as though it could be any other color) and snuggled closer to Hunter's side, keeping his eyes glued to the television screen.

See, _this_ was why Dustin could not be hated. Hunter had a fight with his brother, and what did the yellow ranger do? He dragged Hunter home, baked him cookies, and then ninja'd him into cuddling on the yellow ranger's bed, mindless drivel playing out on the tv. He wasn't actually sure if Dustin was even watching it.  The curly-haired teen seemed more than willing to jump into a conversation whenever Hunter prompted it, but he never pushed for it, like _ever_. There was no addressing the events that had led them here.  _This_ was about chilling.

It was all about relaxing: no worries, merely the finer things in life.

Dustin was awesome.

And if Cam ever hurt the brunette _ever,_ Hunter was going to rip off his arms.

Slowly.

It seemed that brooding was not a pastime that was easily escaped - it was unavoidable at this point - but it was still nice to have company.

And maybe, if he was feeling particularly _share-y_ , he could bounce some ideas off of Dustin.

But that was a big ‘maybe’.

Still, that wasn’t the important issue right now. The fact was that Hunter had already beaten-out and yelled-out and glared-out most of his anger.  He had done all that unnecessary emotional stuff, and he could finally (whether he liked it or not) look at things logically, without the hindrance of his natural defensive tendencies. Denying things was worse; he needed to address the facts.

It came down to a few basic things.

Blake thought that he had the hots for Shane.

And Hunter, as much as it pained him (and it pained him a great deal, thank you), was beginning to think that Blake _might_ just be on to something there.

It was at this point where Hunter realized that the 'playing it cool' game of interacting with people was _not_ the most effective way at keeping them at a distance. In fact, he was pretty sure that it had only served to make it more of a shock when he finally figured it all out.  And then there was the yelling and punching and the _yada, yada, yada_.

So he had failed at playing it cool, because he hadn't really been cool at all (that pained Hunter more, on the scale of irritating revelations).

But _how_ Hunter had gotten to this point wasn't really that important.

What was important, were the facts.  He reviewed them with carefully.

Hunter enjoyed Shane's company.

Fact.

He actively sought out Shane's company in preference to being alone.

Fact.

He found Shane stupidly endearing, and so far, every step the red ranger had taken to make their relationship more… _intimate_ had only increased this feeling.

(Which Hunter supposed was kind of the point, but whatever).

Fact.

Shane had a smokin' body.

Fact.

What?  It was _true_.

And…well, Hunter supposed that his face wasn't too bad either.  Hey, he was allowed to look.

And…oh, yeah.  Fact.

Shane proclaiming his epic love of all things Hunter had been initially disturbing in its intensity, but the crimson ranger kind-of, _maybe_ , thought about it sometimes in…positive ways.

Sad, but also a fact.

Shane being stupid had made Hunter want to bludgeon lampshades with a spork.

Fact.

On a similar note - but completely different because it had to do with Shane - every time the red ranger _continued_ to be stupid even _after_ Hunter had gifted him with mind-blowing advice that should have rocked the air ninja’s little world made Hunter want to strangle him with his _stupid skater_ _shoelaces_.

Fact.

Hunter may have attempted to do this once.

Tori had stopped him (the freaking killjoy).

Also, one of the reasons Hunter wasn't a big fan of Cam (aside from the battle-of-doom, and the lying, and the deceiving-thing) was because Hunter may have- sort of - _not_ liked how much Shane cared about the tech and- _No_ , Hunter was _not_ jealous, because he was too awesome to be jealous, but that didn’t change the fact that Shane should find him _way_ more awesome by default, because in a coolness contest with Cam, Hunter's first place pedestal would extend into the stratosphere, _that_ _was_ how much better he was.

Uh…fact.

Right, got a little sidetracked there.

And, well…

Shane made him feel like _this._ Made Hunter feel _at all_. Made him angrier and happier than other people were able to, made Hunter think about him because he was simply _himself_. Shane could change Hunter. He _had_ changed Hunter.

Hunter liked him.

A lot.

And just… _maybe_ there was a chance that Hunter sort-of, kind-of, _maybe_ had the hots for Shane.

If by maybe, he meant _definitely_.

He was so screwed.

Why did Hunter have to pick the blockhead? _Why_? Why couldn't _he_ have gotten the girl? He was studly. He liked girls.

Shane was stupid.

_Fact_.

Just in case anyone got confused.

Entertaining sidetracks aside, that was everything. Now it was up to Hunter to decide what to do about it.

It seemed pretty clear.

Hunter was going to own up to this attraction and stop running around and acting like a moron. He was too badass to be acting this stupid.  Just because he liked someone didn't mean he still couldn't approach this in the same composed and sarcastic manner that he used to tackle all other aspects of his life. He was Hunter. Shane _liked_ Hunter, at least enough to think about him and want to bond with him. The crimson ranger knew at this point there was probably no chance in hell Shane would ever have even a smidgeon of the feelings Hunter felt for him (yeah, that was where he was in life, thinking about _feelings_ ), or that he would even consider going after another guy, or that-

No, Hunter was not going to mope.

The older Braldey was going to do _exactly_ what he had been doing before, except better. He obviously couldn't flirt with Shane, because the red ranger would probably freak out and hide behind his parents’ curtains or shut himself away in Doofus Land if he figured it out, so the blond was just going to have to play it cool. Do some subliminal flirting. Engage in stealth attraction. Master ninja wooing.

He could probably handle that.

And even if Shane never really did come around, at least Hunter could entertain himself by seeing how far he could go before the red ranger finally caught on to his hijinks.

As depressing as it was, Hunter could actually live off of that.

It wasn't knocking, so much as a quiet scraping came from the direction of Dustin's window.  Both the yellow ranger and Hunter looked up in time to see Blake ducking into the bedroom, his entrance, aside from the window itself, silent.

The navy ranger paused after shutting the window behind himsef, studying the room quickly before making his was over to the bed, hovering just at the foot of it.

Hunter didn't bother to move. Neither did Dustin.

So, that had been fast. It looked like Blake wasn't taking the argument as much to heart as Hunter had feared he would. They had both been stupid and, thankfully, Blake was willing to accept that and move on.

The ridiculous amounts of relief Hunter felt at that prospect were manly and understandable.

The blond quirked his head to the side, hair brushing against at least three different pillows. "So…I think you might be on to something."

When the look he received in return was appropriately of the _'no shit'_ persuasion, Hunter knew his apology had been accepted.

And then the sarcasm faded a little into the guilty look Blake dawned whenever he knew he messed up good, and his younger brother shuffled his feet.

"You have a plan?" Blake asked, delivering his own awkward form of an apology.

Hunter smiled, they were cool.

_Awesome_.

"Yeah," Hunter replied, reaching up in a lazy stretch. "I have a few ideas."

There was another moment of silence, another look of relief, and then Blake sighed, tension leaving his shoulders.

In his peripherals, Hunter could see Dustin quirk his head, somehow picking up on all the words they hadn’t said. "All good?"

Hunter nodded, but Blake replied for both of them, holding his brother's gaze steady. "Yeah, we're good."

The navy ranger paused again, staring at pillow nest that had overtaken them for a few seconds before shrugging and hopping onto the bed, moving to occupy the space on Hunter's other side. As he settled in, Dustin offered him the plate of cookies, and both of the thunder rangers gratefully partook of them.

Super favorite. There were no questions, no _"that's it?"_ that Hunter had been expecting, just…acceptance.

And cookies.

They settled into a few more moments of contented silence, none of them particularly bothered with moving, or worries, or thinking (white flag, Hunter was done for the day) when Blake interrupted his contentment, disbelieving voice hiding an almost fearful tone.

"What the hell is _that_?"

Hunter smiled and took another bite out of his cookie.

" _That,_ dear brother, is ‘The Scarf’."

_And you will behold its wonder and glory and weep._

Because really, what else could you do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize I wrote it out of this version of the story, but in the original version posted on Fanfiction.net, there is a chapter that is dedicated to Shane and Dustin trying scarf-shop for Tori in which *the scarf* is discovered. Just imagine it being appropriately hideous. Chapter’s called ‘My Strongest Suit’, if you want to look into it.
> 
> Until next time :)


	32. The Rainbow Connection

They were doomed.

They had to be, there was no alternative for Hunter to think as conceivably possible, they were simply doomed. They were stamped, labeled, wrapped up in a fancy ribbon and set atop the world's viewing shelf as _"those guys who were doomed"_.

He supposed it could be worse. They weren't doomed to destruction or anything. Not doomed to die or doomed to fail. They were just doomed to inevitably end up fighting whatever fancies flew into Dustin's mind at any given moment. If they were lucky, it would only be the thoughts he shared aloud, but at this point, well…

Who knew, maybe the evil boxing-kangaroo-from-space had been inescapable.

But Hunter supposed that really wasn't the point.

Somewhere off to his side, a large chunk of building smashed into the ground, excess debris following it as though Christmas for decimated building materials had come early. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a streak of yellow and darted after it, deciding that his lone ranger tactic was ultimately ineffective against the flying, smashing, fire-breathing dragon from angry-angry space.

Yep, they were fighting a dragon.

And while it was remarkably unreasonable to blame a certain curly-haired mechanic because of one long ago, off-hand comment, it sure as hell made all the ducking and pulling stupid floundering civilians who had yet to discover that going _towards_ the giant monstrosity that was taking out their apartment building was _not_ a good idea, a little easier to deal with.

Hey, if their bestest-pal Snuggles was stuck inside, they probably should have invested in a better living space considering the fact that they lived in a city that was often plagued by _giant monster attacks_. Seriously, this was not new material. And on top of _that_ little situation, there was also the rather frustrating _challenge_ of their long range radio frequencies knocked out or jammed or whatever, and now Hunter couldn't even talk to the rest of the team unless he was like, five feet from them, and on top of _that_ , whatever was scrambling the radio somehow affected Cam-squareds’ ability to access the Zords.

So they were pretty much stuck fighting a _hugantic,_ mongoloid demon-from-hell that was roughly the size of two skyscrapers with what amounted to slightly inconveniencing toothpicks and the power of _dreams_.

They would come up with something, probably ( _hopefully_ ), but for now, they would just have to play damage control while Cyber Cam worked on getting their Zords online and they worked on _not_ dying.

He hadn't seen Blake since they had parted ways ten minutes ago (too many civilians, not enough them), but Hunter knew Tori would have his brother's back and Shane…

Well, hopefully that dumbass wouldn't do anything too stupid and get himself seriously injured, because Hunter couldn't be pissed at a guy who was moping around in a body cast.

He could try, but even _he_ had limits.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Dustin had been joking about the dragon.

Okay, so maybe he hadn't, because they were super heroes and ninjas and it hadn't seemed unreasonable to want to fight a dragon because wasn't that the ultimate test of courage, or something? Like, you beat a dragon and you get infinite bragging rights. They could even fail at saving the world, and it would probably be cool because hey, they beat a dragon. What? You didn't hear that? _We beat a dragon! You missed it but it was **awesome**!_

And then they could come up with intricate we-killed-a-dragon high fives and t-shirts and they could sit back every Thanksgiving and reminisce about that time they totally owned a dragon’s _face_.

It would make them the rock stars of Power Rangers.

Except Dustin had never actually meant for it to happen. And this, this definitely was _not_ the…what had Cam called it again? The… " _romanticized_ _notion"_ that Dustin had dreamed up.

Because in his head, the dragon didn't attack them in the city, and it didn't enjoy playing whack-a-ninja by throwing miscellaneous sports utility vehicles at them.  And while it _did_ breathe fire, it was more for dramatic effect and it _didn't_ actually spread to all the surrounding buildings.

But real-dragon didn't like sharing with dream-dragon because real-dragon was doing _all_ _of_ those things, and now Tori and Shane had to leap from fire to fire to put them out and Dustin hadn't seen Blake or Cam in at least five minutes, and Hunter-

Was hopping down beside him, tucking out of real-dragon’s sight while they stealthily looked for any stragglers they might have missed. It would have been a lot easier to check if Cyber Cam was still in contact, but they would have to do with their own eyes. 

It looked pretty clear.  Guess that just left the dragon.

Dustin was not a big fan of the dragon.

He shared this thought.

Hunter overdramatically (Dustin could think that now, they were best friends…sort of, Dustin didn't really do "best", he just handed out ties) rolled his head to look in Dustin's direction, the extra energy exerted (mad alliteration, yo) for such a simple action being enough of a response for the yellow ranger. Its translation was something along the lines of, _"Oh really, you hate the gigantic, fire-breathing death machine too? I almost suspected it was just me, but now that you have shared I can go through the rest of life feeling all warm and fuzzy on the inside."_

This was all sarcastic, of course.

It also meant, _"You are stupid, and I kind of blame this all on you."_

But only in the kindest, most loving-way, of course.

Dustin ducked his head, brushing some crushed building off his Lion Hammer to avoid Hunter's gaze.

"I guess I deserved that."

He should have kept his words to himself.

There was a sigh, and then Hunter was patting the side of his arm, pulling the yellow ranger's attention back up in time to see a much more casual, ever-so-slight head tilt to the left.

This action said, _"Don't mind me, I'm just a grumpy McGrummper-pants because people are getting hurt and I can't save them all, and I haven't seen my brother in over ten minutes and while I shouldn't be worried, I am, and this is the closest thing I can give to an apology because my insides are wound so tightly I'm about to herniate, and I'm not really mad at you, but you're a really easy target."_

The mechanic wasn't book smart, but after dealing with Cam for so long, he was kind of a master of non-verbal communication. Cam’s signals were simpler, but usually just as effective. He was pretty sure he had interpreted Hunter correctly.

Because of this, he gave Hunter two thumbs-up.

The crimson ranger nodded, like he was glad they were understood.

A good thing, because they had friends that needed help, somewhere out there.

Dustin wasn't worried about Cam. It wasn't an overestimation, or an unfair judgment or assumption based on the fact he was a super genius. Dustin just knew that any guy who could invent a computer system to run all of Ninja Ops, hold the team together with his mad logic, and still have time to be perpetually awesome would probably be okay.

And Dustin was _so_ not biased about that.

Not at all.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Blake had saved a total of six dogs, three cats, six hamsters, nine gerbils, four guinea pigs, and one chinchilla on this very fine afternoon.  He was about three goldfishes short of being the ultimate animal wrangler. Slight downgrade from _"Earth's Savior",_ but what could you do?

He would have attempted to take a more offensive approach in tackling their dragon problem, but after his Tsunami Cycle had gotten blasted fifty yards to next Sunday, it had become pretty obvious that he needed to focus on doing something a little more manageable. If Hunter ever found out, Blake would never hear the end of it, which was why the steady stream of static blasting into his helmet was a blessing in disguise.

He didn't worry about being parted from his brother.  At least, no more than usual. Their team was a family now; there would always be someone to watch his older brother's back. Whether he liked it or not.

Blake paused mid-evacuation of a fluffy, small dog just as the dragon let out another burst of flames, this time aiming for the already-empty apartment building. A small favor, but the navy ranger would need to stay low until the dragon landed. If it saw him while it was still in the air, he would become its new favorite barbeque experiment and while _he_ would probably be fine, ole' Snuggles here was a different story.

Best to stay on the safe side, out of sight.

Across the square, Blake saw Tori and Shane follow a similar strategy, continuing their efforts to minimize the fire damage while disappearing from view.

Damn Tori was pretty…and amazing and talented and essentially any other good complimentary adjective in the book. Blake needed to ask her out some time. Probably soon. Preferably before they were all charred, smoking meat sacks.

Not the most pleasant mental image.

There was no warning before the empty space beside him was suddenly filled with a very perturbed green ranger, a rough computer/tablet/pda-thing in his hand that was almost certainly salvaged from bits and pieces of other technological do-dads. If they survived this, there were probably going to be some _very_ unhappy family members who would be missing some rather expensive Christmas presents.

Well, they could just throw that into the cost of living in Blue Bay Harbor.

There was a thunderous crash as the dragon finally set itself down, going at its new target like a cat with a scratching post..or something like that. Blake wouldn't really know.

He readjusted is hold on Snuggles and looked at Cam, pure waves of _frustration_ just rolling off of the green ranger. "Looking for the jamming-thing?"

Instead of answering, Cam kept to his work, growling between what was most likely clenched teeth.

" _I will find it_ ," he vowed.

Blake didn't doubt him, but didn't want to patronize the other ranger by saying so. He darted off after a quick nod instead, leaving the master to his business. He did _not_ want to get in the middle of that. He had already seen what happened firsthand when someone got in between Cam and something the green ranger wanted. The determination and ferocity was useful, it just- it really, really _sucked_ to be on the other side of it.

Hunter knew that from experience.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Cam knew that in his focus to maximize his efficiency in aiding civilian evacuation while simultaneously tracking the disturbance that Lothor had planted would undoubtedly lead him to be rather…terse, with the others. He could only juggle so many things at once, and his barely-functioning com-line with Cyber Cam wasn't doing any favors as far as his disposition was concerned. It was all rather frustrating, but he attempted to contain himself.

It would not help to lash out.

He was grateful when Blake made his departure, the navy ranger continuing his efforts to preserve as many lives as possible. It was an admirable trait. To be honest, Cam hadn't even given thought to any of the animals inhabiting the various buildings in the dragon's war zone (he could practically feel his father's disapproving frown on the back of his neck) and he was grateful that someone else had. He could not bear to think how sorrowful it would have made Dustin, to think of the wasted lives.

Such a tiny thought in the grand scheme of things, it was just a couple of pets, but Dustin…

He appreciated the small things. The simple things.

And for that, Cam loved him.

Now if _only_ he could get a location on that forsaken signal disrupter, he would be, as the mechanic was so fond of saying, the " _King of the World_ ".

-:-:-:-:-:-

"Are you okay?"

Tori couldn't see the incredulous look she assumed Shane was giving her, but she still had to suppress the need to roll her eyes at the thought of it. Really, after half an hour of putting out fires, they could definitely manage multi-tasking.

They ducked behind some pillars, the dragon trailing around the corner of the building it was attacking, and stopped to catch their breath.

Shane tilted his head to the side, disbelief clear in his body language.

"Do you want to talk about the weather too?" he asked, obviously trying to keep things light despite the stress that _had_ to be present. It was impossible for it to be otherwise. He was stressed during all their other battles (and those were _nothing_ compared to this) and even certain training simulations, so now that they had no way to check up on each other, no way to access the zords, or to check in with Cyber Cam or even _Sensei_ , he _had_ to be wigging out.

But he was the leader, and had to keep himself steady. Hold it all in, like one steady breath.

Tori skipped past the sarcastic remark, scoping the area out for the next big fire. "They're okay Shane. We're ninjas."

The red ranger didn't immediately reply, seemingly occupied with the search, but she knew her comment had struck home. Tori didn't know if it had helped, but it was at least _something_.

Who was she kidding, she doubted it would be successful.  After all, she knew all _that_ and she still worried about Blake.

"He's okay."

Tori snapped her head to the side, surprised that she had been read so easily, and Shane continued, "They're going to be fine."

After that, they trailed off into silence, each occupied with their own thoughts.

They _had_ to be fine.

Tori couldn't do this without any of them. Even Hunter. And if _she_ felt that way, who knew how Shane felt about it. Not to mention Blake.

Blake was probably willing to hulk-out on someone at this point.

She could sympathize.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The world had gone to hell in a hand basket. It was a Lothor wonderland. All chaos and fire and destruction and commotion wrapped into one giant ball of _awful_ that wouldn't get out of Shane's stomach.

He kept trying to tell himself that they were fine. He _needed_ to tell himself that, so it could be at least a _little_ believable when he told it Tori. He had tried to sound good earlier when he still had an eye on Dustin, when Blake was still flitting in and out of view and when Cam was a positive beacon in the distance, stalking and searching for a way out of this mess.

He had almost succeeded then, even after he had lost track of Hunter, but now-

It was a lot more difficult now.  And he was getting worse at faking it.

He shouldn't be worried.  The others had trained just as hard as he had, and they had plenty of common sense to not do anything _too_ stupid, and they would probably-

"Man, people have too many pets."

Extensive training alone kept Shane from leaping in surprise, and he and Tori turned quickly to see the latest addition to their hideout drop in. Blake descended from out of nowhere, leaning close to Tori.  His helmet was trained on the rampaging dragon in the distance, but he had one arm innocently draped across the aqua ranger’s shoulders.

"I'll say," Shane replied.  The light quip kept his nerves settled, somehow helped him focus that rush of adrenaline he got, and beside him, Tori nodded in agreement.

"Is that what you've been doing? Rescuing stupid dogs?"

The new voice came from behind Shane, and there was indescribable amount of _relief_ and _calm_ that washed over him upon hearing it.  He turned in time to see Hunter land just over his shoulder, Dustin leaning against the pillar to his left.

"Dogs aren't stupid," the yellow ranger insisted.

The taller thunder brother made a vague waving motion and didn't bother looking back, to which, Dustin response with a thumbs up.

Hunter sighed.

Shane did not understand it, and he was happy not to try to.

The other rangers continued the conversation around him while keeping an eye on the dragon, and he let the buzz of voices wash over him while he made an effort to re-center himself.

"Feel better?"

Again, Shane made no drastic move simply because all of his training, and he slowly turned his head to look at Hunter. The crimson ranger had taken to leaning casually against their column.

"Yeah," he replied, tone nonchalant because he didn't know what else to make it, where he stood with Hunter, and because saying _"I'm glad you're not hurt and thank you for not-hating me"_ sounded a little too needy, even for him.

Further left, Cam dropped in beside Dustin and began making his standard mid-battle injury evaluation before pulling the yellow ranger into a hug, metal box of wires and buttons dangling from one hand. On Shane's other side, he could hear Blake finally ask Tori out, which actually seemed like the most logical thing to do in this situation, and Shane finally smiled, knowing that they were going to be alright.

The war wasn't over yet, not by a long shot, and they weren't all perfect but…

But they were getting there.

Slowly.

Gradually.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :)


	33. Forget About the Boy

Time flew by quickly for Shane. Thanksgiving had transformed into December, dragons were ditched in favor of disappearing Kelzaks and a drum-monster-thing, action videos had been made, contests had been won, and the red ranger had finally managed to get to the point were he was _not_ wasting ridiculous amounts of time stressing over what he had dubbed as the "Hunter situation."

Pathetic though it may be, Shane was actually the proudest of that last feat.

Hunter and Blake were fine. Hunter and Cam were…not killing each other. Which was a start. Hunter and Dustin were best-est, best pals (and Shane was _not_ jealous of this), and Hunter and Tori seemed to have developed this secret relationship that revolved around making fun of Blake whenever the opportunity should arise. And also a few times where it didn't.

And as far as Shane and Hunter were concerned…

They were fine. Not _quite_ were they used to be, but they weren't total strangers again. They didn't fight. They didn't treat each other badly.  They just…existed. Cheerfully.

It was incredibly frustrating. Because Shane had _finally_ figured it out, after much consideration on the subject.  It had all added up well and good and made _complete_ sense after many hours of wanting to tear his hair out from the sheer frustration of how _little_ sense it made, until the simple fact of _"duh, Hunter's not like other people, derp"_ finally dawned on him. Which he'd known, but had apparently forgotten, because all of Shane's _good_ thinking skills got wasted on things like saving the world and couldn't _possibly_ be applied to such dilemmas as inner-team relations.

He was getting off-target.

Hunter didn't think like a normal person. So when he offered to start hanging out with Shane and started talking to the red ranger more and doing general friend-stuff, Shane had assumed they were friends. Because that was what the blond’s actions implied.

And _then,_ when they started spending even _more_ time together and Shane started sharing things that actually bothered him, and Hunter had actually like, _helped_ , Shane thought that they were really _good_ friends.

In Shane's experience, you took care of your good friends.

Hell, you took care of your regular-friends too, but the really good ones were first in line when it came to problem-solving.

So he had this really good friend who he _hadn't_ been treating very well, so Shane had tried to fix that.  Because that was the benefit, right?  The point of of having really good friends was that you were honest with each other. There were no walls; there were no messes - just the cold, hard truth.

Based on their previous behavior, Shane’s actions had seemed _perfectly reasonable_ , because that was what _normal_ people did.

Except Hunter wasn't normal.

And Shane was kind of stupid.

So then stuff like _this_ happened.

Because _apparently,_ Hunter hadn't been on the upkeep with the "really good friends" thing. In fact, he had still been _so_ guarded that he had probably considered Shane with half-amusement, half-comradery, and just- No, whatever.  Shane had wasted too much time thinking about whatever the hell Hunter was thinking about, and the only thing it had gotten him was a headache.  It was time to move on.

The point of all this was that Hunter hadn't known they were good friends. It sounded stupid, but bear with the gruff, socially-awkward thunder ninja. Because when Hunter eventually found this out, this thing Shane had _already known_ , his first natural reaction was to be angry.  Because in his mind, Shane had like…deceived him in some way. Betrayed his trust, maybe.  

The only possible mental process Shane could think to justify _that_ was _"If you were really my friend you would have_ ** _told_** _me you were my friend",_ but that train of thought led his brain in so many confused circles that he would have better spent his time curled up in the fetal position sobbing.

He wasn’t making very much sense.

Hunter tended to do that to him.

So basically, the older Bradley had a blow-out/semi-nervous-breakdown-ish _thing_ because he was mad that he hadn't known they were good friends. And he had probably spent a good deal of said breakdown torn between enjoying this friend-status and being pissed that he hadn't figured it out sooner.

As glad as Shane was to have figured it all out, he really just wanted Hunter to come back down to normal-people land so they could talk it out again.

It seemed like a solid plan.  A reasonable plan.

Which pretty much guaranteed it was doomed to failure.  Shane wasn’t sure why he had expected otherwise.

Hunter had decided to go the non-verbal route on this particular ‘fight’, which Shane sort of hated most of all.  The only real choice for him _now_ was to try and re-good-friend Hunter with the blond's knowledge and approval and wait until they finally got back to where they _were_ so they could actually sort-of address Hunter's issues without the blond going spazzy-Mc-Punchy Face on Shane.

It was _indescribably_ frustrating.  Shane hated letting things fester.

Not that he really had to…exactly.

At least, there were _some_ things Shane could still help with. Things that didn't require talking.

To Hunter.

Shane still needed to talk to other people. Hence, his unscheduled visit to Ninja Ops.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Cam didn’t seem that surprised to see him, despite the spontaneity of Shane’s visit. It just _happened_ to be a time where Blake, Hunter, and Dustin were occupied at Storm Chargers and Tori was out bonding with her mother and sisters via shopping (which Shane would never understand, but then again, he'd never _want_ to), so if he - as the only ranger with downtime - needed to get something done on the down-low, _now_ would have been the most appropriate moment to do so.

Cam was even working in the main room, Sensei meditating in his habitat, so the red ranger's timing literally _couldn't_ have been better.

This must have been something Cam surmised once he caught the somewhat smug look of satisfaction on Shane's face.

The tech scowled, because he was required to do that now when Shane came up with sneaky plans, and immediately stopped typing. "What is it?"

No pleasantries, just straight to business.

The skater nodded his head towards Sensei, indicating that his presence was not quite 'fishy’.

"Sensei," he greeted, bowing his head just as the guinea pig opened his eyes.

In his peripherals, Shane could see Cam straighten up, looking less tense and more curious now that some of his worries were relieved.

Shane continued after a brief glance in Cam's direction, "I have a concern I would like to address."

It was actually a pretty damn big one, all things considered, and much like the ill-treatment of Hunter, it was probably something he should have addressed a while ago.

Still, better late than never.

The red ranger took a knee next to the main table, his master bounding over with a leap before landing in front of him soundlessly, nodding his head to indicate that Shane could continue. Sensing the seriousness of the air ninja’s intentions, Cam took a seat on his right, abandoning his work altogether to focus on Shane's quandary.

His turn to take the floor.

Shane launched straight into it, "Blake and Hunter's living conditions-"

"Are gravely insufficient."

Shane blinked; surprised Cam had caught on so quickly.  The tech took this time to continue, adapting the conversation as though he and Shane had actually planned it out together. "With their current income, they are struggling to maintain steady living conditions. By balancing school, motocross, and ranger duties, they can only work _so_ many hours, and their current employment cannot adequately provide the wages required for less-frugal living, though unfortunately neither of them is qualified to do much else."

Cam halted, probably to breathe, and Shane took the opportunity to cut back in, "Kelly pays them to ride for her team, on top of working at the shop, so their gear and bike maintenance is taken care of.  But for everything else…"

Cam jumped back in, "They are struggling to make ends meet."

A quiet fell over them as they stared at Sensei's unreadable expression.  Beside him, Shane could almost feel Cam resisting the urge to fidget. He faced a similar dilemma himself and tried to keep his game face on, refusing to allow any shame settle into his disposition. Like many other things, they should have spoken about this sooner. They should have _seen_ this problem sooner. They should have _done_ _something_. Hunter and Blake weren't floundering _yet_ , but with winter coming and the holidays creeping in, there were just going to more expenses. Heating, warm clothes, food, and with what Shane had seen…

He was honestly surprised they had made it this far. They must've had some kind of savings stored up before this whole mess started.

That couldn't last them forever though, and while Hunter didn't _want_ Shane to be his friend, Shane was still going to treat him like one.

It was a delicate situation.

Sensei tilted his head to the side slightly, staring between Cam and Shane.  Out of the corner of his eye, Shane could see the tech's grip tighten against the material of his pants.

Cam’s shame, guilt- whatever. More problems.

One thing at a time though.

Sensei broke the silence.  "For how long…?"

Cam tensed. "I'm not sure. Between…" he trailed off, because they all knew how they had worked Cam like a dog until he could give no more.  Expecting him to have awareness of the entire team’s standing while balancing that load himself would be a discourtesy- and the fact that he bore any discomfort over it- over something that was, essentially, Shane’s job, was unjust.

Shane reached over a laid a hand against the green ranger’s back. To comfort, maybe. Definitely to support.

He took the lead again. "They didn't start letting us come over until just recently, and with everything that’s been going on…"

Sensei held up a paw, prompting Shane into silence. "I am not disappointed with either of you. Despite the many difficulties thrown your way, you have adapted and risen beyond the call of duty." He paused, turning his complete attention to his son. "It is…unfortunate that these details have managed to slip through the cracks." Cam tensed and Shane pressed his hand down a little harder, trying to shake him out of it. "However, let us not worry over what cannot be changed."

Under his hold, Cam seemed to relax.  With that, Shane relieved the pressure, though he kept his hand in place.

Sensei looked back and forth between them, a demeanor of calm understanding familiar on that small, furry face. "What do you propose we do?"

_That_ was where things got tricky.

He and Cam both _knew_ what needed to be done, so Shane supposed that wasn't the hard part.  It was the ‘ _how’_ that was going to be the biggest issue.

The solution to Blake and Hunter's problem was simple. They had issues paying for a reasonable place to live, so they simply needed to relocate to a place that was rent-free.  A place that was actually invested in them staying healthy and happy and _un_ -stressed out.

In short, the Thunder rangers needed to be moved into Ninja Ops.

There, problem solved.

They could still work, ride, go to school _and_ save the world, but they wouldn't have to worry about things like _food_ and _heating_ and basic survival. Ninja Ops had plenty of space, Dustin could attest to that. There were literally dozens of rooms for the brothers to choose from, none of which had to be located near Cam's. They could have their privacy and still be safe.

The problem then - the glaring, _huge_ issue with all this - was simply how to approach the brothers about it. Clearly, Shane and Cam couldn't do it. For starters, while the thunder rangers respected Cam and his contributions to the team, it was more likely for Lothor to ditch world domination attempts for making daisy chains than it was for Hunter and the green ranger to have a civil conversation that _didn't_ end in glaring or smirking or subdued name-calling. They had passive-aggressive aggression mastered like nobody’s business.

So Cam was out. And seeing as Shane only just _barely_ had a better relationship with both of the brothers than Cam due to the "good-friend misunderstanding", he couldn't really do anything about it either.

He wanted to just move them out while they were working or something, just take all their stuff and say _"You're living here now, deal with it",_ but with everything that had happened Shane, would prefer for Hunter to feel like he had at least a _semblance_ of control of his own life.

And also Blake.

Blake was important too.

So they were sort of in idea-limbo until they figured something out. Giving the Thunder Rangers both the idea and opportunity to move on their own without them feeling manipulated into it without actually _having_ to manipulate them into it would be the best route but…it was confusing to say the least.

Though, the could always-

Light bulb.

Shane totally had this one. Who better to tackle a complicated situation than the master un-complicator himself? Who just _happened_ to be beloved by all? Whose advances were rarely turned away and whose concerns were respected?

Oh yes, Shane had a winning idea.

They could send Dustin. Shane and Cam wouldn't even have to prepare him for it or anything, all they had to do just share their worries and Dustin would take care of it on his own. However he ended up tackling the problem would probably work out better than anything they could have planned anyway.

It was perfect.

Shane responded to Cam’s inquisitive stare by grinning wider, reaching out to grab the tech's shoulder. He didn't bother with a full explanation, didn't need to utter more than one word. "Dustin."

A slight pause, and just like that they were both grinning like loons.

If anyone could do this, Dustin could.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Hunter was sort of mad at his door.

Which…wasn't completely reasonable (or, as reasonable as being upset at an inanimate object was), but he had been having one of those very pleasant dreams that _didn't_ completely revolve around Shane when some very loud knocking jerked him out of his blissful rest and into the less-than-wonderful real world. The real world where things like headaches and bills and _fruitcake_ (he swore that the redhead free sample lady from the grocery store was stalking him because he could _not_ escape) all existed. The blond knew confrontation was ultimately unavoidable, but he could have indulged in a few more minutes of sleep, right? That wasn't an outrageous demand. Perfectly reasonable, in the grand scheme of things.

But then there was the knocking and the waking and the _blah-de-blah-de-blah-blah-blah._

_God_ he was tired. Not extremely though, not enough to not realize who was at the door.

It was Dustin, it had to be Dustin, or a mailman with a death wish (though after what had happened to the last two guys, Hunter seriously doubted it). So by default, it had to be Dustin, and by _law,_ Hunter couldn't be mad at Dustin so _now_ he was mad at his door and the world and the rabid fruitcake stalker.

She knew what she'd done.

"Hunter! Dude, open up!"

_No, I don't want to._

_The only thing the blond wanted was to go back to bed, and_ his dreams just _happened_ to include a certain brain-deficient red ranger that would totally be in the triple x, sexual innuendo, eyebrow wiggle, no-clothes kind of way, then good for him. It was a kind of way that would only ever happen in his head, so no one could judge him (not that Hunter cared), because at the rate he and Shane's blossoming relationship was going, Hunter would be lucky if he didn't end up chaste for the rest of his miserable life.

He should become a frick'n priest. A _ninja_ priest. There had to be a school for that somewhere, he would totally own that.

While he lamented this possibility, there was more knocking.

Why couldn't he just sleep?

"Dude, I know you're in there! I passed Blake on the way up!"

Traitor.

Stupid, pet-saving traitor.

Blake could take his heroism and choke on it.

The knocking paused, and in that moment Hunter could picture Dustin hugging the door, all doe-eyed and hopeful as though Hunter would actually consider opening it.

It was funny, because he wasn't.

"Come _oooooonnnn_." Dustin’s pout was audible. Puppy dog eyes were definitely engaged.

Should Hunter oblige him? It couldn't be _that_ much effort to get up off the couch, walk over to the door, unlock said door, open the-

On second thought- yes, yes it was.

_Sorry Dustin, I am not leaving this couch._

And that was final.

There was a distinct silence where Dustin's hopes and dreams crumbled down into a mish-mashed pile of failure. Hunter tried not to feel bad about it.

Really, he did.

After those two seconds passed, he tried to go back to sleep.  He was practical like that.

"I brought cookies."

_Damn it_.

_Why_ , Hunter lamented, _why did Dustin’s chocolate chips have to be so delectable?_

They were the nectar of the gods. Sure, it was a group of unintentionally ill-meaning gods that pushed addictive baked delicacies onto their followers with unapologetic smiles, but there were gods none the less.

Hunter's stomach growled loudly to let the world know _its_ opinion on the subject. He glared at it on principal before forcing his feet into action, lurching up off of the couch and across the room before he could change his mind.

He wanted some cookies, damn it.

Fortunately, Dustin knew the blond well enough to have figured that little fact out.  Upon opening the door, Hunter was immediately gifted with a blessed sugary treat being shoved into his mouth. All sarcastic and witty remarks were immediately replaced with appreciative moaning (because they were _that_ good) and Dustin had the door relocked and Hunter already back on the couch before the blond had come down from his taste bud euphoria.

He leaned his head against the couch, savoring the chocolate-y, gooey mush.

" _Gaaah…_ Why do you have to date Cam?" the crimson ranger asked, snatching up two more of the baked goods.  “I would totally treat your cookies better than him."

Dustin paused mid-stroke through the blond's hair (because there was no shame in whoring out one's _"silky locks"_ for Dustin's cookies), "…And me too, right?"

Hunter nodded, swallowing the remainder of his dessert while scoping out his next prey. "Of course."

Because he would, had been inclined to, had-

But that was history so ancient that he had already cemented it up and drowned it in the murky depths of his mind mafia-style, never to be seen from, attended to, or heard of again. It was unimportant. What _was_ important was cookies. Which was…not a thought Hunter ever expected to have - especially with the hand life had dealt him - but the way Hunter figured it, if he stayed diligent to his perception of strength _forever_ , he would eventually break from the stress of it all. The past few weeks were enough to demonstrate as much.

To compensate, Hunter would allow himself to take pleasure in these cookies. At least for the time being.

Besides, he was sure his world was about to be completely turned upside down in the next second anyway. That was usually what happened when he managed to find steady ground for his feet.

_Why, aren't we feeling a little morose this afternoon?_

No. _No_. He had cookies damn it; he would _not_ allow his brain to ruin _cookies_.

Even his subconscious couldn't be _that_ evil.

Come to think of it, there _was_ another person here. Perhaps Hunter could try engaging _them_.

Couldn't hurt.

"So," he began, opting out of the cookies near the edge of the plate and going for their warmer, center-buried counterparts. "Did you come here to indulge in my wonderful personality, or is there a dastardly ulterior motive that you need to butter me up for?"

_Aaaaaand…what is option number two?_

Dustin didn't even hesitate. "The second one," he said, sounding unfairly charming for someone who just openly admitted to bribery.

Unintentional-craftiness was one of Dustin's hidden skills, only accessible in times of great need. And since he had brought cookies, it was probably going to involve something that could either A) Offend Hunter's pride, B) Scare him with its intimacy _(yes, he got it, he's a baby)_ , or C) involved Shane. Hunter would like to think that maybe Dustin just brought cookies for the sake of cookies, but they both knew that the mechanic wouldn't have gone full-out chocolate chip for anything less than what he considered key issues.

Hunter almost hoped it involved Shane. Old-Hunter would have denied this and repressed it and refused to acknowledge such stupid whims, but new-Hunter only bullshitted people who _weren't_ him so yes, he wanted it to be about Shane. Ever since the regrettable "stupid face" debacle… _thing,_ the red ranger had been keeping on the down-low. In fact, it was so down-low it was almost nonexistent, which Hunter could only assume was the skater's way of overreacting to Hunter's overreaction.

It was weird. Shane was being nice without being invasive. He wasn't reaching out to Hunter for anything other than team business, he hadn't dropped by Hunter and Blake's apartment _once_ since Thanksgiving and ,despite the fact they had defeated a real-life, fire-breathing dragon together, they had pretty much gone back to being acquaintances.

Good acquaintances, but acquaintances nonetheless.

Hunter would feel a lot smugger if Shane weren’t so ridiculously good at it. He wasn't faking. He wasn't pushing _anything_ (at all, whatsoever) onto Hunter. There were no sideways looks, no _"I wish I could talk to you, but I can't"_   glances and…Hunter was beginning to feel more and more like the most pathetic degree of stalker with the way he was analyzing Shane's non-engagements.

If he allowed himself to use the word ‘depressing’ it would be that, but even the idea of humoring the word as a label was in itself, depressing, and now-

See, _this_ was the crap he’d had to deal with.

Hunter was becoming startlingly aware of the fact he was in High School. Was this what normal teenagers dealt with?

He did not like it.

But even so…

"Lay it on me," he announced, finishing up one last cookie for strength.

It was surprising the things they could do.

"Okay," Dustin chirped, because that was _his_ way of laying down the law. "I want you to move into Ninja Ops."

Hunter paused; conflicted between addressing the issue and using the sarcastic remark he had waiting eagerly in the wings, begging to be used.

Couldn't he do both?

He pointed an accusing finger at the brunette, wagging for good measure. "You know we don't always do everything you want, right?" True, Dustin could get them to do a lot of things, but even his sincerity and constant effervescence had its boundaries. "And you can't guilt me into it with cookies."

No matter how good they were.

Dustin nodded slowly, eyes accessing Hunter. Probably, Hunter guessed, because he seemed to be taking this a lot better than Dustin had expected him to. Hell, even Hunter was surprised at how well he was taking this. Maybe he was in shock; or perhaps he thought too highly of Dustin to fully comprehend what the mechanic had actually set out to do here, or maybe-

_Alright, time to take a moment to process everything._

Essentially, Dustin wanted Blake and Hunter to relocate because even when they worked as many hours as their schedule allowed (and even a few times where it honestly didn't), they could still just _barely_ afford to keep the crappy apartment they managed to con the landlord into giving two minors. _And_ …whatever money was left after paying for _that_ they had to spend on utilities, food, and clothing (because you could only rip-off an outfit for ninja battles so many times before it got bitter and decided that it wanted to _stay_ that way,) and with winter settling in with no concern for leaving soon, all of these expenses were bound to double. This would leave them with even _more_ nothing, as compared to the earlier nothing that they were already struggling to deal with.

To be blatantly honest, they were running on fumes here.  While the rest of the team (sure, it was just Dustin _now_ , but Hunter knew their game) had respected the Bradleys’ pride and privacy, they were finally putting their foot down, deciding that enough was enough. Realistically, Hunter and Blake needed to go somewhere safe and secure where the rent was magically paid and food was plentiful so they could focus on doing things that were slightly more important than convincing Mrs. Jennings downstairs that other teenagers sneaking in through third story windows was the new "hip" thing to do.

As sad as it was, Hunter had already spent all his excess worrying on _we-all-know-who,_ so he couldn't really find it in himself to summon the energy to be angry, or frustrated, or…anything, really, at the team's concern.

Dustin's suggestion was logical, and it wasn't like Hunter and Blake would be completely mooches.  They would still work.

And then, of course, there was the saving-the-world thing. Definitely worked in their favor.

Two sentences into this conversation and Hunter had already given up legitimately fighting it. He would still do some probing though, put up a bit of resistance. Just for appearances sake. He couldn't let them think he was too easy.

On the bright side, Dustin would probably end up spilling all aspects of the team's plan-of-attack anyway, so it wasn't like Hunter would have to force anything out of him.

If he just waited like, three seconds, the information would come to _him_.

See, he was practical.

To speed the process along, he engaged his _"questioning eyes_ " (so dubbed by Blake).

Which Dustin didn't even bother looking at.

_Tool_.

"The cookies were for your pride," the yellow ranger explained, rearranging his baked delicacies into the beginnings of a cookie fort. "Cam's suggestion."

With the base of the structure established, Dustin began working on the second layer, apparently so super focused on his new project that he felt like having a conversation like normal people, with pauses and questions and effort and stuff.

_Double tool._

Shouldn't he be _trying_ to win Hunter over? It was like he already knew the blond had given up.

Perhaps it was the lack of yelling.

Whatever, it was irrelevant. The blond had subtle probing to do.

Hunter grabbed a cookie that had strayed to the edge of the plate and helpfully plopped it onto the beginnings of the third layer, sneaking in a purposely placed off-hand comment. "And Shane's."

He bet that the red ranger and Cam had this whole thing planned out before they even told Dustin about it. _Finally_ , Hunter had caught Shane in the act.

Sure, the skater could act all aloof, but when it came to completely walking the walk, Hunter had him wrapped around his little finger.

There was hope, perhaps.

He wasn’t sure why that made him so giddy, but like a normal person, Hunter chose to repress that happiness to focus on his mild interrogation. 

Dustin paused. "Nope, just Cam's." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, leaving a haphazard trail of cookie crumbs. "Sensei's the one who suggested I be direct."

Hunter rolled his eyes, more at himself than at Dustin (why did he think subtlety would magically start working on Dustin _now_?) and evened out one of the corner towers, successfully keeping the cookies from tilting. "What did Shane say?"

Dustin stopped again, confusion settling in. He stared at Hunter questioningly, as though the blond knew something he didn't. "Nothing,” he drew the word out slowly.  “Shane wasn't there."

"He wasn't there?" Hunter echoed, feeling just as genuinely confused as Dustin had looked.

It was like they were speaking two different languages, except they understood each other's words perfectly, the definitions just kept coming up to things they weren’t supposed to.

Dustin pushed the blond’s hand away from their cookie tower and gently and placed the plate down on the coffee table, concern overriding his confusion.

"Just Cam and Sensei," he clarified, scratching the side of his head. "This is a kind of important issue."

_No shit_.

Hunter got that, but if it was so important-

He leaned back against the couch, trying to come off as relaxed and probably failing drastically. "Shane didn't put you up to this?"

Shane _had_ to have said something about this. This whole scheme practically screamed _Shane_ so loud that Lothor could hear it from his stupid spaceship. This was a Shane-plan all the way, so _why the hell_ wasn't he the one-?

The world kept turning.

"Nope," Dustin replied, shrugging his shoulders in that honestly-befuddled way that said he didn't understand why Shane hadn't been there either, hadn't suggested it, and it didn't add up to him, so-

Hunter leaned forward, hands resting on his knees, mind going back into the fray. "He didn't-"

"Dude,” Dustin interrupted, hand going to the crimson ranger's shoulder. “What's with-?"

"Nothing," Hunter barked softly, cutting Dustin off before he could mention he-who-should-not-be-named.

Damn it, _damn it._  Why had he become so incapable of thinking of things that _didn't_ involve Shane? Why did every, _little_ \- It was like Hunter wasn't allowed to breathe unless he spent a good three minutes thinking about Shane's damn placement in his world.

And then now, supposedly, there was this thing- This was a big deal right? It involved Sensei, and living, and privacy, and _boundaries,_ and Hunter and Blake- And yet, somehow, Shane was "supposedly" uninvolved. Or, at least for all appearances sake, he _was_ uninvolved.

Hunter used to be the king of apathy, but Shane…

Dustin leaned forward; placing his hand cautiously above Hunter's, which had subconsciously curled into a fist against his knees. "Are you guys fighting again?"

"Nope," Hunter growled.  It sounded remarkably untruthful, but Dustin backed off, deciding to take his answer for what it was.

Focusing on the bigger picture.

Well, Hunter had a bigger picture too.

The mechanic backed away, but kept a hand against Hunter's shoulder. "So, about what I-"

"We'll do it," Hunter replied softly, sitting up. Cool, composed.

It made the most sense, and besides, he had a plan of his own to employ.  A plan that would probably work out horribly, one that could be easily trumped by the basic act of communicating, but one that he felt was a lot more appropriate than "logical" responses because hey, feelings had gotten him this far right?

Why not go the distance.

Dustin sat back, probably surprised at how easily Hunter had given in. "Really?"

_Really_.

"Yeah." The blond nodded, biting back a smile.  Then he paused, a new idea coming to him. “Tell Shane I put up a big fight though."

The confusion was back. Oh, how adorable Dustin-puzzlement was. "Um…why?"

Because two could play at that game, that was why.

If Shane wanted to ignore him, _fine_ , but Hunter was going to send him home _weeping_ with his own awesome apathetic skills. Hunter had spent a majority of the first few months working with Shane ignoring the other guy, how hard could it be to revert to old tactics?

Sure, it was a horrible idea. Completely spiteful. No means to an end. No way to achieve anything that even remotely resembled a pleasant ending. In fact, there was a good chance Hunter had brought this upon himself _anyway_ by freaking out on Shane, but he didn't care. He couldn't- he couldn't accept the fact that Shane would do something like that for him.

Because if he did, it would be because Shane was such a good guy, and his friend, and that was what Shane did for good friends and teammates and-

And that wasn’t what Hunter wanted.

So instead of trying for something that was most definitely hopeless, he had _this_ stupid plan.

Because if Shane just _kept_ ignoring him-

Then it wasn't supposed to happen. What they had wasn't _supposed_ to get better.

Hunter didn't deserve him.

_Pushing him away before it even started_.

Master, no- _King_ of apathy.

He needed to tap into that now.

A light touch to his shoulder brought Hunter back to the outside world. He rubbed the side of his head, feeling suddenly very, very tired.

"I'm not entirely sure…yet."

He would come up with something.

"And you guys aren't-?"

"We're not fighting."

They were so _not_ -fighting that the emperor of pacifists would be jealous of their interactions.  Assuming that pacifists were dedicated to an masochistic way of living.

Dustin backed off again, this time deciding to make a strategic retreat from the apartment. "…Okay."

_Okay_.

He left the cookies as a parting gift, but Hunter couldn't take any more satisfaction from them.  He was too busy destroying the little things he had before they could hurt him. After all, his life revolved around control.  It was stupid to think he could manage something like a relationship.

He wasn't equipped for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently Hunter's infected Shane a little bit. The sarcasm is slowly sneaking in there, lying in wait. I think it's kind of cute.
> 
> Until next time :)


	34. Without You

There was something brewing, something mysterious and weird and completely out of Dustin's league, but there was definitely _something_ churning up in Hunter's head.

And for the life of him, the yellow ranger couldn't figure it out.

He decided not to worry about it too much though, it couldn't be that bad. Minor, at most. It was probably just another one of those pride-fights that the blond had with Shane every once and a while. They’d be mad at each other for a little bit, and then they would beat up a monster together, shake hands, and call it a day.

Worked every time.

And since it was just more of the same, there was nothing really to worry about, so Dustin immediately pushed the insanity that was Hunter/Shane relations out of his mind and called Cam to give him an update on the good news. Hunter hadn't even fought him or anything. Either Dustin's cookies were really just _that_ epic, or his skills of persuasion were reaching newer and better heights.

If it was the latter, Cam best be on the lookout.

" _Go for Cam."_

_Yes, I will_.

Dustin grinned, picturing the wonderful piece of man-meat waiting for him at Ninja Ops. He was sure there would be rewards for his clean victory.

"Dude, I got a yes."

Because he was awesome

" _Just like that?"_

By the skeptical tone of voice, Dustin could tell that clearly _somebody_ was not aware of Dustin's improved powers of persuasion. So much the better for him, now it would be a surprise when he convinced Cam to do that one thing-

"Yeah," he replied cheerfully.  While, he desperately wanted to stick to the train of thought that focused on a certain attractive green ranger and certain to-this-point-forbidden activities, there was something nagging at the back of his mind, something he was supposed to remember…

"Oh yeah," he whispered, snapping at the revelation, as was required when such revelations were made. "Hunter says to tell Shane that he put up a big fight."

Dustin took comfort in the fact that the crimson ranger was just as lost when it came to the purpose to this as Dustin was. But it was most likely because of pride. That was what they fought about, right?

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. _"But he didn't."_

"Nope."

Another pause.

See, even _Cam_ was confused.

Somehow, that made Dustin feel _less_ confused.

If that made any sense.

Cam cleared his throat, covering up his hesitation. _"Let me get this straight.  Hunter has urged you to tell Shane that he put up a big fight, when he in fact, acquiesced to our appeal with moderate ease?"_

Dustin thought about this for a second.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

There was another pause, but Dustin was pretty sure this one was simply from digesting and understanding that their friends could be a special kind of stupid sometimes, rather than actually being confused, which was where Dustin tended to make his home.

It wasn't a pleasant fact, but it happened.

Before Dustin could mourn this, Cam cut back in. " _I'm deliberating whether we should enable this behavior."_

What, the lying? Yeah, Dustin had been on the fence about that one too. But then he thought about it.

He wouldn't lie, he was uneasy with the lack of honesty, especially in regards to his best friend. He liked Hunter a lot, maybe enough to also call him best, but Shane had been best _first_ and that deserved a little consideration.

At least, those were the rules Dustin had made himself. It made things easier to think about, in the grand scheme of things.

"Yeah, that bothered me too, but the way I see it, it's a pretty small demand compared to what we're asking him and Blake to do." He paused for a second to allow that brain-sickle to melt in. "Also, if this is just another one of their fights, it'll probably blow over in a few days."

There was a thoughtful silence on the other end of the line. 

Though, Dustin supposed since all of Cam's silences were thoughtful, in the world of the green ranger it was just another silence.

The thoughtfulness was inferred.

"… _I suppose you have a point."_

Dustin smiled, pleased that everything was going so well. Hunter and Blake were going to be moved somewhere safe, where they were cared, and Dustin didn't have to lie, or beg, or get yelled at to make it happen. Everything was going to be okay.

"Yes, I believe I do."

His point was awesome. Now he just needed to get back to Ninja Ops to make blow Cam's mind with his sexy brain persuasion.

It was a good day.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Cam frowned at his morpher, anxiety and wariness settling in his stomach. The ease with which Hunter had surrendered couldn't help but set Cam on edge. There had to be a greater threat occupying Hunter's attention that allowed this sudden and definite change to occur so effortlessly. True, while Hunter claimed to not be an individual entirely driven by emotion, the blond had a nasty habit of responding to logical and reasonable responses excessively…and sporadically.

‘Emotionally’ - could be the word Cam would use for it, though out of respect, he avoided using such language. The tech had predicted denial at first, among other negative responses, and then after a little more resistance Hunter would inevitably surrender to the most logical course of action. In the end, the crimson ranger _was_ a reasonable when addressed with things that didn't immediately affect his person in what could be considered an "intimate" fashion. And even when it was something more personal, that reasonableness didn't completely disappear. Near the end of his time of rebellion, that intelligent counterpart would make his appearance, and the initial, reasonable, logical choice of action would be allowed its victory.

So Hunter's easy surrender did little to calm Cam's nerves on the Thunder ranger's imminent move into Ninja Ops. In fact, despite Dustin's protests otherwise, the tech was almost certain that on top of his concerns for sharing a home with the Bradley brother,s there would undoubtedly be some newer, bigger, more unique and outlandish threats to occupy his time.

The only silver lining was that in all probability, this new "Hunter problem" was entirely centered around Shane.

If that was a silver lining at all.

Cam was fond of Shane. He was, aside from Dustin, Cam's best friend. And while the green ranger was not well-practiced in the role of "best friend", he knew that preventing disasters of the social and emotional spectrum from occurring was probably within the job requirements. It was also part of basic human decency.

However…there was the slight chance that the tech was simply overthinking this, as he tended to do with things that concerned his friends. Sure, Hunter was difficult, to put it kindly, but whatever his motivation, it probably wasn't nearly as bad as Cam envisioned it to be.

Dustin was right; it was far more likely that the two reds were simply on the outs again.  Give it a few more days, and balance would be restored.  In the meantime, the team could take advantage of this little tiff and move Hunter and Blake into Ninja Ops with no resistance. Everybody won.

And yet in knowing all this, Cam still hesitated before calling Shane to update him on the situation.

It was unavoidable, he supposed. One couldn't completely divert from what was the natural order of things. Paranoia, treading lightly -  it was simply in his bones.

He needed to have faith.

" _Go for Shane."_

It was a confident, relaxed tone. The red ranger wasn't on edge - probably assumed from the lack of exploding buildings and kidnapped citizens that this was simply the progress report that it was, as opposed to an actual attack.

Cam got right to the point.

"Dustin got a yes."

As they knew he eventually would.  The pause then, on the other end of the line, was merely a period of adjustment Cam had felt similarly, surprised it had taken only one visit. While Shane became accustomed to the gravity of the situation, Cam recalled the terms that were negotiated for such results, and prepared himself for an action that would probably be inconsequential at the end of the day.

Though this knowledge brought him little comfort.

Cam flexed his jaw got on with it, not waiting for Shane's response.

"From what I heard though, he put up a rather impressive fight before reaching this decision."

Though that was _all_ he heard.

There was a quiet scoff on the other end of the line. _"Yeah, that sounds about right."_

And then there was…nothing.

No distrust, no anger or frustration - just nothing.

It seemed that Dustin was right after all. There was nothing to worry about, no warnings that needed to be issued. The lie had been given and for Shane it was…expected. Welcomed, even.

It made Cam wonder if the planted information had been for Hunter's benefit at all, or if it was simply the blond's way of…informing Shane that the natural balance of things hadn't been lost.

It was a puzzle that Cam did not like. There _was_ something to be worried about here, something…He wasn't sure what, _yet_ , but he would stay vigilant. Eventually, he and Hunter would share the same roof, and Cam was going to keep the crimson ranger under observation until he could determine what the other teen’s endgame was.

"Yes, I suppose it does."

Shane was Cam's best friend. He loved him, and he was prepared to worry and protect the air ninja from...whatever this was.

It was something, right?

There had to be something.

-:-:-:-:-:-

On move-in day, everything went smoothly. There weren't any big hang-ups - mostly, Shane supposed, because the thunder rangers didn't have very much to move in the first place. Cam had gone ahead and cleared out a suite (which Ninja Ops apparently had, and Shane was beginning to wonder what else the tech was hiding from them) for Blake and Hunter, moving out a few pieces of furniture to make room for the Bradley collection. True, what they had was ragged, stained, and bore no overall cohesive design, but it was _theirs_ and somehow the green ranger knew that they should be allowed their little piece of "home" without ever having been told as much.

From what Shane could tell, the thunder rangers appreciated the sentiment, though Blake was the only one to say as much.  It wasn't like any of them were expecting Hunter to say anything anyway. Hell, him _not_ being overly rude towards Cam was his little way of saying thank you. Shane would have hugged him for it, were allowed anywhere near the grumpy blond.

Well…he'd take what he could get.

Right now, that apparently entailed ‘nothing’. A great load of nothing.

Hunter was giving him the master of silent treatments, the coldest of shoulders. The blond had neither made eye contact, spoken to, or even verbally addressed to the other rangers anything that had to do with Shane. Even when they ended up moving the couch down the stairs together, the crimson ranger had somehow managed to pretend he was taking on that particular endeavor all by his lonesome.

It wasn't that he was ignoring Shane and letting Shane _know_ that it was happening; it just seemed that Hunter didn't want to acknowledge he existed right now. So he didn't.

The others had sent Shane concerned looks when they first began noticing it, Dustin worried and Cam looking speculative, trying to dissect the causes for such behavior while Tori and Blake stared on with confused looks on their faces. Clearly, the younger Bradley hadn't been let in on this behavioral choice.

Shane waved off their concern.

It wasn't anything to worry about. Hunter simply needed to get this out of his system before they could go back to what they had before. It was the crimson ranger's odd way of saving face. Hunter was a proud guy who needed his space, and Shane was willing to give it to him.

He contemplated, very briefly, pretending that this behavior actually bothered him. That was probably the point of it all, right? To get upset? But he just…he couldn't. Because he honestly wasn't upset. He saw this for what it was, and more importantly, what it actually _meant_ , and couldn't help but ultimately be relieved.

Because this was the light at the end of the tunnel. This was the one last act of defiance before everything would go back to normal.

So he couldn't be mad.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Blake did not like this new change.

He did not like this new change _at all_.

While it was pretty obvious that he and his brother weren't the champions of communicating effectively (as evident by the three months Blake spent on cautious flirting before he actually asked Tori _out_ ), he was pretty sure that Hunter's newest plan-of-attack for winning Shane's affections was probably the most stupid thing that had ever come into existence.

A few days would have probably been acceptable. At least, in the world of Shane-and-Hunter-communications, where the standards most of society used to perceive things were non-applicable, it _could_ have been acceptable. Blake figured that they just had another fight or something, and Shane would allow Hunter the few days he needed to do…whatever he was doing, and then they would be fine. Hunter would go back to mooning over Shane in the most concealed, stealthy, macho way and Shane would go back to being the ridiculously best, best-friend and they would go on being completely unaware of the lovey eyes they kept throwing at each other until the damn on their sexual tension burst and they started making out in Storm Chargers.

Which wasn't something Blake _enjoyed_ thinking about, but seeing as it was inevitable, he had begun to slowly integrating these ideas into his normal thought processes as a form of future coping.

You know, to be prepared and stuff.

Though to look back on things, Blake was pretty sure that Hunter's feelings were reciprocated. It was the only way the skater could be this patient with Hunter's epic amount of stupidity.

But it wasn’t not like Blake could tell his brother that.

Okay, he _could_ (and had tried), but it wasn't like he could get Hunter to actually _listen_.

The older Bradley had already decided to do things the hard way.

So when it hit ("it" being _'Hunter's Stupid Plan'_ , as Blake had labeled it) the one week mark, the navy ranger had begun to get a little worried.

One week was pushing it, even by red ranger standards. One week was over-doing it. One week meant that the younger Bradley had to reevaluate the situation to see if he could understand whatever the hell his stupid older brother was doing. Maybe he and Shane _hadn't_ gotten into a fight. Maybe this was Hunter's very awkward, very horrible way of flirting.

_Ugggh_ , that thought killed Blake a little inside, because no relationship was that screwed up. Hunter was not _that_ screwed up to think this might actually might work.

That meant that Hunter _wasn't_ flirting, because while the blond was stupid, he wasn't like… _stupid_.  It had to be a fight. But not an average fight, Hunter was pulling out all the stops for this one, going for the long haul with an amount of effort he normally wouldn’t bother exerting. Either Shane had done something very, very bad to piss off his brother, or he had done something very, very _right,_ and Hunter was expressing his thanks by being the world's biggest jackass.

One more day. Blake would give Hunter one more day to celebrate his emotional ineptitude before they had a very blunt heart-to-heart.

This wasn't acceptable.

Whatever _this_ was.

-:-:-:-:-:-

A week was just a week. It was just a unit of time, signifying nothing more than the passage of seven days. And while most weeks were just that – weeks – Shane couldn't help but feel a little on edge because of the…conditions of _this_ particular week.

Hunter was still ignoring him.

Okay, Shane was willing to admit that one week was pushing the bill on over-reactions, even as far Hunter was concerned. It was getting a little depressing. When Hunter worked the cash register at Storm Chargers, Shane would just hang around nearby, catch up on some reading or watch the latest competition footage or just…be there, waiting for whenever the blond felt like acknowledging him again. He wasn't even sure if this was the right thing to do anymore. He couldn't tell what Hunter wanted. Did he _want_ Shane to talk to him? Did he want the red ranger to be the one who broke the silence? Did he want Shane to give up?

But maybe he was worrying for nothing. It had only been a week. It had only been seven days.

Not unbearable days. Not particularly difficult days. Just…days.

He was being stupid. Shane was literally overreacting to _nothing_.

Things would restore themselves soon enough.

Until then, he just had to keep waiting.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Okay, Blake was beginning to think that Lothor must have zapped Hunter with another mind beam, because the crimson ranger had surpassed ridiculous and taken his new obsession with avoiding Shane to higher levels of absurdity. Things had officially gotten out of hand.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be much any of them could do about it.

Even the act of talking _about_ Shane seemed to be off limits. Even with _him_ \- Blake, Hunter's brother. The guy who was _also_ adopted and experienced the life-shattering death of his parents. _That_ guy.

Yeah, Hunter didn't exactly feel like talking to _him_.

Not about Shane.

It was…‘insanity’, was the only word Blake could think for it. It didn't make any sense.  What the hell happened? Shane _had_ to have done something awful. It was the only explanation.

With that set in his mind, Blake decided to corner to skater to talk one-on-one, just the two of them, and…

And he seemed just as confused as Blake.

Their conversation had gone a little like this:

"Dude, what'd you do to Hunter?"

The honest reply - the exasperated, frustrated, agitated reply - just _oozing_ with undertones of hurt and bewilderment and whatever else was in those sappy movies Tori made Blake watch (no, he did _not_ like them), was just this:

"After apologizing, nothing."

And then like the depression-suppressing good-natured guy that he was, Shane walked off with slumped shoulders, mourning the loss of contact with a guy that was obviously kind of insane.

Seriously, there had to be love there. Blake just could _not_ think of another way for this to work.

He wished Hunter could see that.

You know, before he did too much damage.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It needed to be done. Dustin didn't want to do it, but it needed to be done.

Like, yesterday.

He contacted the crimson ranger's morpher.

" _Go for Hunter."_

Dustin paused, totally to catch his breath or mentally prepare himself or anything that _wasn't_ being slightly intimidated about what he had to do.

Not at all.

"Hey, uh…Hunter?"

An awesomely powerful start.

You know, comparatively-speaking. If he was using that word correctly.

He probably wasn't.

" _What, Dustin?"_

The mechanic hesitated at the gruffness of the older Bradley's tone before remembering the note cards he had created for occasions such as the urge to chicken out, and picked up where he had left off, squinting down at his chicken scratch.  It helped to be prepared.

"Did Shane like…kill your imaginary friend, or something?"

Dustin figured if he eased Hunter into the conversation, he would receive better results. Not that he was very good at doing things slow or tactfully or…

Well, the ‘imaginary friend’ thing would probably throw the blond for enough of a loop that he would stay onboard for the rest of the conversation.

Hopefully.

Dustin continued, "Not that it's bad to have imaginary friends or anything. I think they're great."

He used to have a ton of them.

_Used_ to.

“They don't really compare to real friends, but like…"

Because after getting the real deal, the fake ones lacked a certain pazzaz.

"Cuz - you know, real friends can actually _talk_ to you, and give you hugs and stuff."

Which Dustin was a pretty big fan of.

He thought Hunter had been too.

"You know, like when you're sad."

And alone and just need someone to be there for you.

Dustin sighed, abandoning the pretty much useless flashcards. He was rambling.

"I like having real friends," he continued, trying to make Hunter see what he was doing.

The _bad_ of it.

There was a short silence on the other end of the line before Dustin finally got his reply.

"… _Is there a point to why you called?"_

The crimson ranger sounded annoyed. Seemed that what Dustin had been trying to get across was completely missed by the other ranger.

Dustin coughed, tilting his head bashfully.

This should be going better.

"Uh…yeah."

Wasn't it obvious?

Another annoyed pause.

"… _And_?"

"It's just-" Dustin scrunched his nose, thinking. "It's hard to keep real friends if you treat them like imaginary ones."

But not- not really.  It was different, but still wrong.

He clarified, "Except instead of like, no one else being able to see them, it's only _you_."

And Shane hadn't done anything wrong to be an imaginary friend.

"It sucks dude."

Shane was a _real_ friend.

And real friends had needs, and concerns, and deserved respect, because that was how you _kept_ real friends. That was _why_ you were friends.

Because they were nice people who liked you so they treated you nicely.

Did Hunter not like Shane anymore? Was that why Shane was imaginary?

There was dead silence on the other end of the line.

"Dude, are you still there?"

It would suck if Hunter started ignoring _him_ too. They had just become good friends.

There was a sigh and Dustin smiled, feeling a small sense of relief.

_Victory_.

Sort of.

"… _Unfortunately."_

He was getting somewhere.

The yellow ranger decided to push his luck. "…Well, did _he_?"

He wanted to know. Shane _had_ to have done something right? Something happened.

Or was Hunter really that fickle?

" _Did who, **what**?"_

The agitation was back full force, and Dustin couldn't decide if Hunter really had no idea what he was talking about, or if he was like…being vague on purpose.

But he didn’t- He couldn’t-

He gave up; Hunter wasn't going to tell him anything. Not anytime soon. And Dustin wasn't smart enough to figure it out on his own.

The brunette hung his head low, figuratively throwing in the towel with a sigh.

"…Forget I called."

_Forget like how you forgot Shane was your friend._

He was really good at that.

Hunter remained completely unaffected by the disappointment in Dustin’ voice, spitting out a hasty, _"Whatever"_ before ending the call, leaving Dustin alone with his failure.

He didn't know what to do.

He knew he needed to do _something_ , he just wasn’t sure _what_.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Blake had no idea what to do anymore. His mind was thoroughly boggled. _Boggled_. Hunter wouldn't talk about it, and clearly _Shane_ hadn't done anything, and Tori kept on giving Blake these looks like it was somehow all _his_ fault.  Blake didn't know how this was going to end, but he was pretty sure that _somebody_ was going to end up with a bleeding face and a tearstained shirt, and he was beginning to think that it was going to be _him_.

He did not like the sound of that.

And neither did _someone_ else.

He didn't bother looking to see who was beeping his morpher. It was the same person who had beeped it yesterday, and the day before _that_ , and he still only had the same answer that he had the last few times.

The same unsatisfying, _stupid_ answer.

At the rate they were going, _everyone_ was going to start ignoring each other.

" _What the hell is your brother doing?_

Blake flopped his head to the side dejectedly, wondering if there would ever be a time again when Tori _wouldn't_ be mad at him. Seriously, this wasn't his fault.

He sighed and glared at his morpher.

"I. _Don't_. Know."

And then he hung up, because smart people knew when to retreat.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Tori frowned at her morpher, only somewhat surprised that Blake had ended the call. The rational part of her mind suggested that if she were in his shoes, she would have done the same thing, but she was too frustrated to pay it too terribly much attention. Tori had bigger fish to fry, and if Blake didn't have anything to tell her, then she would go to somebody that _would_. Someone who specialized in gathering intelligence.

" _Go for Cam."_

"Is _everyone_ going insane?"

She couldn't help herself, this was nuts. Hunter ignoring Shane for a little while…Okay, that was slightly acceptable, Hunter’s crazy. As a team, they had accepted that. They were all a little crazy.

But this, this was blatant and hurtful and _stupid_. And worst of all, Shane was just taking it like he deserved it or something.

And now Blake was avoiding her and nobody seemed to know _anything_ and Tori really, really wanted to start smacking some sense into _somebody_. She would take anyone at this point.

Cam didn't hesitate to reply.

" _Doubtful."_

Well, at least she could depend on the tech's dry sarcasm to be constant. There was some comfort in that.

The blonde sighed, rubbing the side of her head. She could feel the migraine waiting to attack.

"Cam, I'm serious. What the hell is Hunter up to?"

Cam had to know. He was _Cam_. And… _whoa_ , she was beginning to sound a little like Dustin, but Cam had to have some kind of idea or theory as to why this was going on. Otherwise, why would he let it keep going? After Shane and Hunter, Cam was pretty much the next one in charge.

Why wasn't he _taking charge?_

There was a subdued, but similar sigh on the other end of the line. _"I would probably be the least qualified to answer that."_

_Yeah, I get it; you and Hunter don't like each other. Get over it._

Tori clenched her jaw closed, trying to keep back from biting out some sarcastic remark. She did _not_ have time for this.

"Well, the _most_ qualified guy just hung up on me, so I'm asking you." The aqua ranger paused a moment, taking a steady breath to regain some sense of…pleasantness. She shouldn't take out her frustrations on Cam.  She started again, calmer. "Got any theories?"

_Please say you have theories._

There was a small hesitation on the other end of the line. Tori waited, patiently, and was rewarded with a quiet declaration.

" _He isn't being tampered with by any outside sources."_

_He isn't…_

Wait.

What?

She shouldn't be this surprised. "You ran tests?"

Of _course_ Cam would have run tests. Anything and everything to cover all the bases, and if Hunter wasn't being tampered with-

Cam confirmed her fears.

" _He's clean. He's choosing this course of action deliberately."_

But-

"Why?" Tori asked, wanting, _needing_ to know.

Before Cam could formulate an answer, there was another set of familiar beeps on the line, indicating that Cam had another caller.

He sighed, not tired just…saddened. " _That's Dustin. I've got to go."_

Before Tori could protest, her line was cut off, leaving her with nothing but static and a sour feeling in her stomach.

_Why?_

Perhaps the world would never know.

She growled, slamming her hand down on her desk with a lot more force than necessary.

No, she would figure it out. _Someone_ had to.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Dustin started off as Cam had expected him to, mildly frantic and guilty, bordering on irrational.

" _Dude, I was wrong, you were right, we shouldn't have lied."_

No, Cam knew beyond a doubt that there had been no right answer. With either of the decisions Hunter had presented them, to support his falsity or to claim the truth, both would have ultimately led to the creation of these circumstances. Hunter's behavior was beyond their control. The negative actions resulting of it were no more their fault than the lack of oxygen in space. It was inevitable. Hunter had made his decision and the rest of them would just have to accept the consequences until they could prepare a more effective plan of attack.

By his defeated tone, Cam could tell that Dustin was on the cusp of making this revelation, but unfortunately wasn't there yet. He was attempting to understand, to allocate blame in order to comprehend that which bore no definite reason. As though they had some control.

As though they could have prevented this.

Cam wanted to comfort his loved one; he wanted to explain.

But there was nothing he could say that Dustin would accept. Not right now.

"Dustin…"

He wasn't allowed to finish before the storm simmering in Dustin's mind took over and Cam was pushed aside, the mechanic already moving on before he could say anything. " _You know, I'll just tell Shane. I'll tell Shane and everything will be okay. We'll be okay."_

And with that declaration, Cam was left alone once more with nothing to show for it.

Shane needed to start talking.

_Someone_ needed to.

Before the team completely collapsed inside itself, suffering the loss of one of its braces.

Without support, they were nothing.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Shane wasn't thinking about Hunter.

Shane wasn't thinking about Hunter because Hunter certainly wasn't thinking about _him,_ and he refused to allow himself to become so pathetic, so damn _needy_ that he would obsess over someone who had clearly decided he wasn’t worth the time of day. Not worth talking to, not worth fighting, not worth working with.

Non-existent.

Nothing.

So Shane wasn't thinking about Hunter.

Unfortunately, he couldn't broadcast this fact to the rest of the team, because that would have involved addressing Hunter, so Shane couldn't really control any of _them_ talking to him about…it.

Yeah, ‘it’.

The air ninja wasn't surprised that Dustin was the first to crack, though Shane had thought that maybe with Cam on his side, the yellow ranger might have lasted a little bit longer.

Pero _no_.

" _Dude, I'm sorry.  We lied. Hunter totally didn't put up a fight about the…well, you know. And I'm not sure why he's mad, but if that changes anything-"_

"It doesn't."

Shane hadn't really processed the words before he said them, didn't have to put much thought into them, because that was the honest truth.  It hadn't been important.

It didn't change anything.

Dustin was quiet on the other end of the line.

Shane felt for him, knowing how confused the brunette must be. Dustin just wanted to make things better.

" _It doesn't?"_

There was so much hope in his tone that Shane almost wanted to find Hunter and smack some sense into him.  This wasn't just between them anymore, it was beginning to affect everyone. Shane didn't mind being kicked around a bit, he knew what he was getting into with Hunter, but involving the others…

This was going too far.

He shook his head, taking a steady breath. "This isn't your fault Dustin."

The silence Shane received in return was enough for him to know that the yellow ranger didn't believe him.

"… _I've gotta go."_

Shane didn't bother trying to stop the yellow ranger from hanging up. He wasn't sure what to do anymore. The team- _their_ team was falling apart, and he wanted to do something about it. He _needed_ to do something about _this_. But what were his other choices? By this point, he had actually _tried_ to engage in some basic small talk. Nothing big - just the weather, sports, hell, even ranger business. In public, that was how desperate he had become.

And for all his effort, he got nothing. Not a cold stare, not even a look of annoyance, just…nothing.

He just…

He just needed to wait it out, that was all. It was unpleasant, but-

When Hunter was ready, he'd be ready.

It was just going to take a little longer than Shane had originally anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Until next time :D


	35. The More You Ruv Someone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (The more you want to kill them)

About a week and a half into his brilliant, not-so-brilliant plan of ignoring Shane's entire existence, Hunter was beginning to think that the rest of the team really _was_ as incredibly stupid as he initially conceived them to be. With Shane…To be honest, Hunter had stopped recognizing anything Shane did after about a day because his brain would latch onto _that_ like it was what kept the world spinning, and if he ever _stopped_ thinking about it, they were all going to die. And then he'd overanalyze all these different options to the point that he couldn't even remember what he was actually analyzing (which was a new kind of pathetic, for him, and he was beginning to sound uncomfortably close to Cam), and then it would all boil down to the depressed, kicked-puppy look Shane seemed to be continuously sporting nowadays.

So yeah, Hunter had stopped thinking about Shane's reactions to everything.

But everyone else was fair game, and they had to be morons.

Seriously, why else had no one stepped in yet? Aside from Blake (who didn't really count because he was more on Hunter's side than Shane's), no one had stepped up.  What had happened to angry Tori and protective Cam?  Where did they disappear to?

So far, Dustin was the only one who had even _tried_ to ask Hunter what Shane done, and he couldn't even go completely through with it (and he probably could have made Hunter fold like a card table if he had asked a second time).

Hunter had honestly expected _someone_ to try punching him in the face by this point, but so far all he got was nothing. Zilch. Nada.

Just one sad, depressed, stupid, _stupid_ red ranger, who for some odd reason hadn't given up on him yet.

Hunter refused to feel hopeful. That would require thinking, about Shane, and that was going to end up with another broken blender and…

_Why, what do we have here?_

The team was hanging around Storm Chargers when there was a disturbance in the force. Hunter had looked up in time from restocking the riding gloves to see what could only be an older Shane-spawn walking through the door, looking incredibly dapper in a business suit. Professional-like without being stuffy, but _still_ giving off the air of a guy that was a bit of a dick. It was the determined face. He was cruising for something, and he wasn't going to leave without it. Family reunions must be a real fun time at the Clarke household.

The guy was old, but not old enough to be Shane's dad, so it was a sibling or cousin, and one look was enough for Hunter to know that there was not a great deal of love in this relationship. Resentment, maybe. Disappointment, definitely. Years of poor communication resulting in this cold, forced _thing_ that held just the bare minimum of courtesy that was required when dealing with relatives was almost palpable in the air.  The guy wore it like another coat.  Made him even more of douche.

This was not going to be good.

Initial gut response -, Hunter didn't like it.  Family business was always tricky, but Shane didn't seem upset enough by older-dick’s entrace to warrant any big reactions from any of his friends _,_ so the blond pushed those initial feelings down and focused on his work.

But hey, it wasn't Hunter’s fault if he just _happened_ to overhear their conversation right? It was a small store, after all.

"Shane," older Shane-kinsmen greeted, a small yet distinct amount of annoyance in his tone. While Pompous-Clarke nodded politely to Tori and Cam, Hunter restrained from throwing merchandise at the to-be-named-dick's head. It probably wouldn't help with the "stealth" vibe he was going for.

He didn’t like that tone.  It didn’t fit on someone who was supposed to be family.

While the feeling of injustice that Shane be saddled with this person were not exactly unexpected, Hunter knew enough about the world’s apathetic cruelty to swallow it down.  Even if Shane did deserve better. 

"Porter." Shane responded to the greeting with a slow nod.

Hunter searched his memory until he recognized that particular tone of voice as tired. Not quite resigned, but getting there.

What did this ‘Porter’ want?

Older brother/cousin didn't bother with any pleasantries before he started barking out orders.

Because, hey, was common courtesy _really_ that important when you were out in public?

Apparently no.

He didn't even look at Shane; he was too busy checking his watch. "Grab your stuff; we've got to get to Dana's parade."

Hunter brushed away that flare of annoyance to mentally connected the dots. Dana was the younger sister Shane used to gripe about (probably still did, just...not to Hunter), so Porter ( _the ass_ ) was wrangling Shane into some kind of holiday festivity centered around the little darling. Seeing as she was pretty much involved in _everything,_ Shane wasted a lot of time with these little side trips that could be better devoted to just anything else.

Though he had never met her, Hunter figured Dana was an attention whore. Without this ever important life force she'd _die_.

He wondered if that'd really be such a terrible loss.

Shane sighed, definitely tired, like he and Porter had already had this particular fight dozens of times. They probably had, Hunter assumed, but Porter wasn't nice enough to just let it rest and decided to intrude upon the skater's personal place of refuge.

Shane tried to make a logical argument anyway. "I already went to her recital and the Christmas concert-"

Because she's a _whore_.

"Which you ducked out of," Porter interrupted.

Okay, now Hunter knew he wasn't the only one cringing in sympathy. He remembered that night, Shane had tried to finish up the monster attack quickly so he could make it back for the end of his sister's concert of no-redeeming-value, the timing just hadn’t been feasible. That's what happened when you made sure your job got done right.

Unfortunately, due to the whole ‘secret identity thing’ he couldn't use that as an excuse.

Shane's reply was quieter, with evident traces of guilt. "I was feeling sick."

It wasn't his fault.

Shane shouldn't be guilted for missing one lousy performance. He's been to like, ten of them in the past two months. Hunter would know, he had to hear about them.

Heard.  He had _heard_ about them.

The blond frowned, shoving the glove in his hand onto the wrack harder than necessary.

_Stupid jerk_.

Being the pleasant fellow that he was, Porter made sure Shane knew he didn’t buy the excuse.

"I'm sure you were," he replied sarcastically, talking down to his younger brother as though he was dealing with a particularly difficult toddler.

The blatant disrespect raised Hunter's hackles. This "pleasant" conversation about family affairs was going towards a place he didn't like, and if the tension kept building, he knew _somebody_ was going to get nasty.  It probably wouldn't be Shane.

The remaining options did not sit well with Hunter.

Could brothers really act like this?

Shane continued as though he hadn't heard the sarcastic barb, listing off his sister's other various December activities on his fingers. "The Winter Carnival thing, caroling tomorrow, and then there's that party where my attendance is apparently mandatory." He sighed quietly, still fighting what he had already perceived as a losing battle. "It's a parade; she won't even notice I'm not there."

Porter frowned, back tensing. "That's not the point."

The older Clark grit his teeth together, and…hell, he was ready for a fight. Not a real one, but this was it.  There was a dam Shane couldn’t sense that was waiting to be destroyed, and the poor air ninja was still under the preconceived notion that this would be like every other fight he must have had with Porter.  

He didn't recognize the powder keg he was about to set off until too late.

"Then what is?" The skater rubbed the side of his head, looking away from his older brother, expecting a short answer.

And… _release the Kraken._

Porter frowned, disappointment and frustration permeating his tone. "We're your family," he began, arms folding across his chest so he could get into the proper lecture position. "And I know you're probably too busy riding your skateboard or hanging around here to appreciate that." He gave the shop a disapproving look over. "But we come first. Family's permanent, you don't get to be there when you _want_ to be, you just…" Porter stopped, tilting his head to get a better look at Shane. "Are you even listening?"

Hunter didn't look, but he knew Shane had to be blocking it out, keeping sane.  And, most importantly, trying to quell the urge to hit his brother.

Which Hunter would have gladly done by now.

Porter let out an annoyed huff. "See, _this_ is what I've been talking about." He threw up his hands in frustration, not caring about the attention he drew by the steady raise in volume.  "You don't respect anything. You have no direction, no drive. You're just completely apathetic to everything, aren't you? Just some teenage rebel, shooting the breeze." He dropped his arms, disgusted. "Grow up Shane. Do something with your life. Some kids would kill to have the family you've got."

And on that final inspirational note, _Porter_ checked his watch again, as though they could actually go through with the stupid parade thing after humiliating his little brother in public.

Oh… _hell_ no.

Hunter barely _had_ a family, and he knew that shit was way off base.

That did it, he was pissed.

Luckily, they had finally got to the point in the conversation where Shane would verbally wipe the floor with this guy and reclaim his dignity.  He would probably do it with tact, kill him with kindness so sweet and so careful that Porter wouldn’t even realize the gigantic ass he had been until he had safely exited the store, sans-Shane.  It would actually be a pretty magical moment, come to think of it.  Watching Shane put his red ranger diplomatic skills to use would be both be entertaining and, more importantly, poetic justice.  How better to fight a low-life who expected nothing of you than by proving you were a hundred and twenty percent the person he was? 

Balance would be restored. There would be no more sibling activities to attend.

See, Hunter didn’t need get angry, everything would be fine. Shane definitely had it in him; he just had to wait, see, and then-

"Alright," Shane muttered, head in his hands. "I got it." He stood up, keeping steady eye contact with his brother while refusing to look at the rest of the rangers. "Let me get my things."

And then he disappeared into the back of the shop like nothing had happened.

Like that uncomfortable _debacle_ of a conversation had not just wrecked the status quo with unforgivable brutality.

Hunter _knew_ he wasn't the only one looking completely shocked, because _what the hell?_

What the _ever-loving hell?_

Was Shane really just going to sit back and take this?  He didn’t _have_ to.  He was better than this.  He was better than wasting the precious little free time he had watching his obnoxious sister ride by on a float for ten seconds before disappearing from, and-

No.

No.  No, damn it - _no_ , this was _not_ happening. One guy being an ass to Shane and the air ninja just taking it was pushing the limit, but his own brother? Had this happened so many times that Shane didn't even bother fighting for himself anymore? As though he didn’t deserve some basic decency?

Did he actually believe this prick?

Hunter's mouth managed to catch up to his feet by the time he was spinning older-spawn around, and he was honestly impressed with the fact that he didn't give into his urge to punch the guy right then and there.

"Hey," he barked, gripping that stupid button shirt up with both hands. Porter snapped out of his surprise long enough to look indignant and opened his mouth to object, but Hunter cut him off. "Shut up."

Well, that was a strong start.

"I'm Hunter, and you know who's a bad guy?" the blond asked, trying to keep his voice down (and _damn_ was it hard). "You know who's a rebel?  _I_ am. You could ask anyone in here and they would be happy to tell you that I am, undeniably, a dick."

It was true; there was no way anyone could object to it - more honest words had never been spoken. Hunter was actually surprised Tori hadn't stood up and shouted ‘ _Amen!’_ when he made this declaration.

"But that guy that just walked out-" Hunter motioned to the back door Shane had disappeared through, Dustin hovering near its entrance. "The one you dressed down in front of all his friends?   _That_ guy is nice. Ridiculously nice." Hunter couldn't even think of a proper way to describe it, but his mouth was happy to go on anyway. "I am talking about the epitome of caring and consideration, lengths that are completely unnecessary to go to, he will go to, because he is _that nice._ " He released one hand from Porter’s shirt so he could wave his arm in an attempt to emphasize this, as though it would help. " _That_ guy does right by people.  _That_ guy tries to always do the right thing, even when he's not sure what it is.  Even when he doesn't _like_ it."

Hunter was trying to get across the insanity of it all, because it was, legitimately, insane, but he had to hold onto his anger or else he would lose it.

“Because he's mature,” Hunter continued.  “Because he's a good friend. Because he is a good person who doesn't demand anything of the world." And this was it, the _real_ dressing down that needed to happen. "You might call that apathy. _You_ might interpret that as not taking things seriously, but _he_ deserves some goddamn respect.  And if you are half the mature adult you claim to be, you will _give_ it to him."

Hunter stopped.  That had felt almost…therapeutic, in a sense.  Like he had taken a load off, but he wasn’t done.

The easy part was over, _now_ was the time to get instructive.

The thunder ninja leaned forward, summoning every ounce of menace he had learned back in the early days of his ranger career, when he had been aiming to match murder for murder. "Now you are going to leave. You are going to leave, and the next time you see Shane you are going to be pleasant and nice and helpful because that's what brothers are _supposed_ to be.  And if you don't…"

Hunter trailed off, settling back into the evil, Toxipod-tainted Hunter of yesteryear. Just to give that added hint of _crazy_.

"Let's just say I have a special fondness for knives and car tires, and I'm just _dying_ to think of an appropriate way to combine the two." There was a fearful look in the older brother's eye that Hunter reveled in, disbelief mixed with genuine surprise and a certain flavor of shellshock that was just delicious.

With a wicked smirk, Hunter delivered the final blow. "But only if I’m given proper motivation."

After that he let older-Clarke go.  Hunter had said his piece _(_ the piece that someone else, i.e. Tori, should have delivered a while ago because she had a sane head on her shoulders and she _must_ have seen this song and dance before), now it was just a matter of going back to his work and pretending nothing had happened.  He could go back to the silent-treatment act the rest of the team was letting him get away with if Shane started asking questions, and it wasn’t like-

From the corner of his eye, Hunter caught a flash of movement – red, hovering at the backdoor just over Dustin’s shoulder. 

Based on the gobsmacked expression on the red ranger’s face, Hunter had not managed his time quite as effectively as he had hoped.

Whatever, Hunter didn’t owe him anything.  He was pretty sure being a dick to someone’s family member wouldn’t put you in anyone’s good graces, so he was totally fine.  Nothing to feel self-conscious about.

With that settled, Hunter gestured sharply towards the front door, impatience setting in.  “Go."

The older Clarke-spawn didn't need to be told twice.

Porter quickly exited with as much dignity as he could manage, allowing the tightness that had built in Hunter's chest to finally dissipate. The others stared at him in silent confusion, probably unsure of what to say (which was great, as he was in a similar boat).

That hadn't been a part of his plan. Really, Hunter hadn't thought much beyond fixing what was clearly a _wrong_ in the world of Shane. He understood it was crazy (coming from _him_ ), but like some kind of possessive fourth grade girl, it was like Hunter needed to prove that only _he_ could do that. No one else got to kick Shane around, that was _his_ job.  Hunter had dibs. And dibs were universal _goddamn it_.

There would always be other excuses, but the greatest motivation (that he would never own up to) was that he was plagued with the misfortune of caring an uncomfortably great amount for this wonderfully stupid- Okay, no.  Hunter couldn't really insult Shane after seeing that. Not even in the comfort of his own brain.

Against what he might have previously assumed, time had not, in fact, _stopped_ while Hunter had established his mental ownership of Shane-meddling. In the meantime, Shane had made his way over, one hand already reaching out towards Hunter, the beginning of the words, " _Thank you_ -" hovering on his lips.

Hunter didn't think. It wasn't his strong point today.

He should have thought (about something useful – as this teenage-angst business? Not so useful) because this could have been an out. This could have been the restoration of normalcy.

But his body reacted before his brain could; going straight into what the new set standby had been for dealing with Shane.  Before he even realized it, Hunter had breezed out of Storm Chargers in three seconds flat, calling out a goodbye to Kelly and shrugging off Shane's hand as though it were nothing.

He should turn around. He should turn around right now and get on his knees and come up with as many different ways to apologize as he could, that might save him, if he were capable of salvation.

Instead, Hunter kept walking.

He was kind of stupid like that.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Nobody said anything, not that Shane blamed them for it.  He didn’t have anything to add either, there was nothing left to say. The hits were coming too fast - first Porter, and then _Hunter,_ and-

How was it that the most difficult relationships he had just _happened_ to be some of the most important ones?

He didn't- He couldn't do this, not here. Shane needed some space, he needed…he needed to leave. He needed to take a page from Hunter's book and get going before he had to look at any of the others.

Shane didn't want their sympathy, he didn't want their words.

That wasn’t what he needed.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Running helped. Fresh air plus physical exertion was always a winning combination for Shane, allowing him to work off the excess anger and frustration so that he could deal with the mess that was building inside his head. He didn't understand it. He just couldn't understand Hunter.

At this point it shouldn't be this frustrating. It wasn’t like the crimson ranger had been easy to follow before; it was just that _now_ -

Why? Why'd he do it? Why had he stood up for Shane? His entire goal for destruction or pride or the renewal of barriers was to pointedly _not_ do anything that involved Shane, or if he did, to have those actions be caustic and provoke misery upon the red ranger. To put it in the most basic, understandable terms, it seemed like he had wanted to make Shane feel bad.

He had succeeded. He had _super_ succeeded. Hunter had been the winner a thousand times over in the little game he had created, and Shane had been left hopeless and confused and wishing desperately that he didn't have to play anymore. Shane had surrendered.

Wouldn't Porter being…well, Porter - loudly, in front of everyone Shane knew and cared about - wouldn't allowing that to carry on be enough for Hunter? It only contributed to what he wanted, right? It added to his end goal _and_ he didn't even have to do it. That should have been a win-win.

Maybe Shane would have been better with that. Maybe he would have preferred for everything to carry on as it had been (in a predictable, comforting way) as opposed to feeling, well, hopeful again. Feeling like he might have gotten his friend back, that they were fine and they didn't even have to start over. 

It was like Hunter was finally owning up to the fact that he really _did_ care, and as a result they wouldn't have to keep doing this stupid, ridiculous _thing_ anymore.  They could have stopped and let it fade into a funny story they could tell at some indeterminate point in the future – some awful thing that would become a fond memory, as strange as that sounded.

Hunter had to give Shane _all_ that - had to make him feel _that_ much better - and then ruthlessly tear it away, dangling it just out of reach and laughing at Shane's pathetic attempts to reach for it.

Was this all just a game to him? Is that why he had done it, because he knew it would make Shane feel worse? Or was it because he was the one with Shane-abuse rights and shame to the person who thought they could cut in on that action. That would not do. Only Hunter the jerk, the tool, the…insane, twisted, _ridiculous_ excuse for a human being, was allowed to make the red ranger feel bad. Those were the rules.

Distantly, Shane registered the fact that Hunter could only affect him if he allowed it to happen. That he crimson ranger could only rile him up if he gave into the blond’s bait, but somewhere along the line, the pure _lunacy_ that was Hunter had infected his brain and he just _couldn't_ think of…he just couldn't detach from it. Clean his hands of this entire mess.

That didn't really make sense either. Why the hell was Hunter so important that Shane was willing to put up with all this crap? This wasn't what a normal friendship entailed. Sure, ‘normal’ and ‘Hunter’ didn't really go together, but this was so far off-base that it wasn't even in the same _realm_ as friendship. It was somewhere else entirely, something new that hadn’t been labeled. A special place where they were stuck in this constant loop of overreactions and over-analyzing and _way_ too much emotion.

It was strange, thinking back on it. Shane had never worried about how much he was obsessing over Hunter. Ever since the whole love-potion thing, it just seemed like thinking about Hunter was easier. Not that he was still on a love-high or anything, just that…like maybe there had been this mental roadblock there, that kept Shane safe from the older Bradley's world, and the potion just took it out. Made him start thinking and he just hadn't stopped.

But that _wasn't_ anything to be worried about. Shane liked Hunter. Eventually, once he had given him a chance. Hanging out with Hunter was actually fun. Underneath all the brooding and sarcasm was a guy who was…actually kind of goofy.

He tried to hide it.  For the sake of machismo, Shane figured. Or to keep himself safe, to keep from appearing "weak". But every once in a while, his guard would drop and Shane would get to see the relaxed Hunter behind the mask, the one who was fun.  Regular-Hunter, who was a genuinely nice guy who cared about his friends.

Hunter had principals, and rules, and a structure he lived by. He took care of Shane when he hadn't wanted it; he looked after all of them and didn't ask for anything in return. Shane missed hanging out with that Hunter. He missed being able to share his ideas for the team with him, to receive the other's blunt but honest feedback in return.

Shane fought off a smirk as he darted through a cluster of trees, ducking under the branches.

_This_ is what he should be worried about. How badly his missed Hunter. He never thought he'd see the day where he actually _wanted_ the crimson ranger around, let alone mourned his absence. If Shane’s past-self could only see him now, he'd be crying. Or laughing. He _was_ getting kind of pathetic.

What was he doing anyway? He hadn't even been in the wrong, and this is what he got? Couldn't Hunter see how much he was willing to change for him? What Shane was willing to do because of how much he cared about the other ranger? He wouldn't put up with this crap for just anybody.

No, Shane did it for _Hunter_ , changed himself for _Hunter's_ benefit, and the guy couldn't even take the freaking time of day to appreciate that and-

And…

Shane slowed down to a halt, slumping against the closest tree so he could cradle his head in both hands, stunned by a sudden understanding.

He had been so caught up in _his_ feelings and Hunter's feelings that he hadn't taken the time to stand back and follow the logic of what he had actually had been doing.

He - Shane Clarke - had greatly, and without concern, adapted himself just so that he could make Hunter happier. So that he could make Hunter more comfortable.

And then when he…when Hunter delivered his unreasonable and, quite frankly, illogical response to this alteration, instead of calling him out on it, or outright refusing it, Shane had accepted it and adapted _again_ , once more for Hunter's benefit.

It was insane. It didn't even make sense, but the air ninja had gone along with it anyway because the only thing he wanted, the only thing he _needed,_ was for Hunter to be happy, regardless of the effects it had on himself.

In short, he cared more about Hunter's happiness more than he cared for his own.

As…odd as it was to admit, Shane knew that was beyond the call of friendship. Allow him to rephrase, that _wasn't_ friendship. That was something else entirely. Shane felt something else entirely for Hunter that had nothing to do with the act of befriending someone and everything to do with being romantically-invested in them.

_Holy shit_.

He was attracted to Hunter Bradley.

The first laugh sort of barked out of him, clumsy and loud all on its own, and was quickly followed by a flood of uncontrollable laughter. Soon, Shane was clutching his ribs, aching from the sudden assault.

Of course. Of course he would be attracted to Hunter. Of _course_ , he wouldn’t question it, didn't truly know why he hadn't seen it before - because it made sense. Why everything seemed to be such higher stakes with him, not because he was the crimson ranger, or that he wasn't like everyone else, it was because he was freaking _crazy_ and Shane somehow loved-

He loved him for it.

He did.  As abruptly as the thought had come upon him, Shane couldn’t deny its truth.  This wasn't an aftereffect of the love potion, this wasn't desperation derived from loneliness, this wasn't a mental breakdown or-

This was him wanting - _needing_ this stupid, damaged person to be happy. To be able to talk to Hunter, to be allowed into his inner sanctum.

Why wasn't he panicking about that? Hunter was a guy. A male. With male bits that were very similar, if not exactly, like his own.  To this point, Shane had never desired, nor even subconsciously hinted at _wanting_ to be with a guy, but-

Hell, maybe he was over-thinking this. Or maybe he was under-thinking this to an unnatural extent, but he would like to think…well, a relationship wasn't for looks right? You were supposed to love the inside (so when you both inevitably become old and wrinkly prune skins, that "spark" is always there), so maybe…the inside that he was really fond of, that he really wanted, just _happened_ to be inside another dude.

Was it really just that simple?

Shane thought back onto those euphoric, love-high moments of so long ago and distinctly remembered that the personality, indeed, was what he had focused on. The physical stuff -that was a plus, but the company-

He still couldn't believe how easily he was willing to accept this, but at this point, it was the only _logical_ option. That and, you know, he really cared for the guy.

Funny how you could not notice something for so long, and then after one sudden realization you saw it freaking _everywhere_. Weird. But-

_Damn_.

Shane was in love with Hunter Bradley. The stupid, crazy, constant defy-er of social normalities that currently held absolutely no desire to speak to him.

Yet.

Shane smiled, feeling relaxed and satisfied for the first time in a long while.

Everything was going to be okay.

Because Hunter _did_ care about him.  He cared enough to stand up for Shane to his brother. And Hunter cared that _he_ cared about the blond in return. Hunter liked hanging out with him (because otherwise he wouldn't bother with him), and while he was…difficult, in the end, all Shane had to do was wait and the blond would come "crawling back", looking as sorry as ever.

The logic seemed to defy most of the behavior that Hunter had exhibited up to this point, but Shane couldn’t shake his confidence in the conclusion.

Patience would win the day for this one, he was sure of it.

This passive waiting thing though, it wasn't doing it for him. Nope, now it was time to get proactive. If Hunter didn't want to talk, that was fine, but since Shane finally knew they were cool…

His smile widened, and he rubbed his hands together, giddy with anticipation.

He would put Dustin to _shame_ with his constant babbling. He would hold one-sided conversations until Hunter finally broke down and admitted to the errors of his ways.

And after that…well, Shane would tackle the "after" later. One step at a time.

He was in love with Hunter Bradley.

Damn, he would _never_ hear the end of this from Tori.

_Never_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me until editing these last few chapters back-to-back to realize that Shane and Hunter’s paths to discovering their attraction were both a result of realizing ‘Hey, I changed for this dude’ and then mildly freaking out over the implications of such measures. Just- you go guys. Like, in every other way they are different (opposites attract, yo) but in that one regard, they found each other, and I’m a little proud of past-Paisley for figuring that business out. 
> 
> Or falling back on an old-standby and not realizing it.
> 
> But I’m going for the totally-planned-that-out method of thinking. It’s the tiny victories, really.
> 
> Until next time :)


	36. No Day But Today

Hunter was getting the uncomfortable feeling that he might have broken Shane.

Not entirely, or… not in the true meaning of the word, more like he had broken him so much he had _fixed_ the air ninja (were Hunter egotistical enough to believe that).

Hunter could have sworn up and down that Shane had reached his breaking point (like, the one for actual breaking - not this new, peppy, incredibly _not_ -breaking thing) as inspired by Hunter demonstrating how wonderfully awful a person he was, but instead of participating in the expected event of giving up, the skater was somehow…fixed.

It was a small comfort that Hunter wasn't the only one startled by the sudden change in the weather, no one else had seen it coming either. One day, Hunter was ignoring the red ranger with flying colors and inspiring many inner-tears-of sorrow, and the next day his ignoring with flying colors was responded to with friendly, un-phased conversation.

Not one to be thrown (though for the record, he was, and suck it to anyone who looked down on him for it), Hunter had continued his ignoring with much greater skill and dexterity, taking the blocking out of human interactions to their highest and furthest extremes.

He figured…you know, Shane would get the hint.

Seemed kind of appropriate then that Shane had _not_ gotten the hint.

The red ranger had responded by _continuing_ to talk to him, and Hunter wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or baffled or just sad that the skater hadn't thought to do that earlier, because it probably would have saved them all a bunch of heartache. Stupid respectfulness of boundaries.

It was _stupid_.

So he had managed to break Shane so much that he was _un_ -broken (or ‘fixed’, as normal people would call it, but Hunter couldn't respectfully think that in regards to Shane, he just _couldn't_ ) and Hunter wasn't entirely sure what to do about it.

Talking back was definitely an option. An easy option. The worst possible result from taking this option would be for Shane to ignore him, or punch him in the face.

Damn, Hunter had been cooped up inside his head for so long he couldn’t remember how _normal_ people reacted to things. He was losing his connection to humanity- why god, _why_ \- and-

See, he had broken Shane so well into un-brokenness that he must have broken himself. Clearly, this was the only logical option.

And _now_ Hunter was beginning to sound like Dustin.

_Shit_.

This was what his world was becoming.

He was frustrated because it would be _so_ easy to just to give in and let this thing die a horrible death in a ditch somewhere. All he had to do was open his mouth and Shane would welcome him back like a good shepherd waiting patiently for the brain-damaged sheepling to find its way.

Yeah, pity the baby-sheep, it doesn't know any better. Sure, it acts out with malicious intent, but it'll come back to the way of sunshine and _love_ eventually, no need to get upset.

Hunter was frustrated because it shouldn't be that easy. It shouldn't. He deserved something. He deserved to be yelled at or face-smashed or _something_. He deserved to be punished.

He didn't deserve easy forgiveness, especially not from Shane.

Which was why when _Tori,_ of all people, managed to corner him mano-y-mano in his and Blake's new living quarters at Ninja Ops, Hunter knew that he had reached the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, he knew some part of his body would probably be injured and yes, there would be yelling, but those slight negatives were immediately overwhelmed by a feeling of relief. He needed someone else's words. He _needed_ someone, anyone (he would have even taken Cam) to kick his ass into proper working condition again.

Some of this must have read through his eyes when they studied each other in silence, because her glare softened a little just before she pulled back her fist and smacked him in the arm, hard enough to bruise.

Hunter didn't bother ducking in case she wanted to do it again, but she seemed satisfied with just the one blow.

And then she was guiding him towards the couch. As was required when having a heart-to-heart like this.

Shit, he was becoming a seasoned pro at this emotional stuff. Oh, the shame.

Tori had a hold on both of his shoulders, as though ready to shake sense into him at a moment’s notice.  She stared into his eyes, serious and thoroughly encapsulating the _"tough love"_ vibe. The, _"I like you but I want to wring your scrawny, little neck"_ love.

Hunter was very familiar with this feeling.

"Hunter," she said quietly, but with a firm, resolute tone that would allow for no arguments. "You're being a moron."

The gradual tightening of her grip suggested that she wanted to go for a little more than just a punch to the arm, but she was nice enough to hold it back.  Because while the rest of the team tended to run around like headless ninnies when the goings got weird - if Tori had a goal, she didn't let _anything_ get in her way. She was responsible that way. Mature. Adult.

A little bit scary.

Okay- real talk - _a lot_ scary.

Hunter didn't offer any of his opinions on the matter, even though he wholeheartedly agreed with the blonde.

Tori continued, calm and precise, "I fact, you are being _such_ a moron that the word no longer does your brand of stupidity justice. It cannot possibly ever hope to accurately describe what a moronic, imbecilic, _unmatchable_ ignoramus you are." Her voice never rose above a normal conversational level, but the frustration and suppressed need to murder was still loud and clear.

She frowned and tilted her head, as though scouring her brain to properly explain his ineptitude while never breaking eye contact. She wouldn't do him that favor. "Other morons are in awe at the level of idiocy you have achieved, so much so that they would have made you their leader _happily,_ if only you could be contained by the mere label of ‘ _moron’_."

She closed her eyes, taking a steady breath and loosening her grip.

Hunter would be feeling that tomorrow.

Her eyes snapped open, and she was back on track. "But that aside, you are still our friend. You are still _Shane's_ friend."  She emphasized his name, staring Hunter dead in the eye. "And since Shane is also _my_ friend, I'm going to kindly ask you to take your head out of your ass and man up to the fact that there are people out there who _like_ you."

There were a few seconds of silence where Hunter had to process what she said.

This wasn’t entirely the direction he ahd thought this was going to go, and Tori caught onto this fact immediately. "As strange as it sounds, there are people other than your brother who _care_ about you. You, Hunter Bradley."

She added in that last part as though could be confused, not that he really blamed her for the clarification. He had been somewhat of a dunce lately.

"And while you might not like it, or are used to it, or expect it - you like _them_ back."

Hunter wasn't sure if he was grateful for the fact she's saying ‘them’ instead of ‘Shane’, because they both know what this is about, but she was on a roll anyway and he wasn’t going to make her stop just to reassure his insecurities.

Tori was mad and the boy knew it.  The agitation was clear, but behind it, there was still this tiny hint of sorrow in her eyes. Not quite pity, she wouldn't do that to him, just…maybe hurt, that she actually had to explain this.

Maybe that was why this had festered for so long; no one thought Hunter needed this. Like he was given the problem two plus two and of course he would get four, right? Something that basic? That was easy.

Except he hadn’t. His entire world was based on assumptions and observations and surviving. Keeping Blake safe. Keeping _himself_ safe. He didn't know, didn't bother thinking that he could possibly possess the things that normal people had.

He hadn't wanted it spelled out for him, but he _needed_ it.

He supposed that was where Tori came in.

She continued, thumb rubbing circles on the side of his arm, guiding him back into the world of the living with a calm, commanding tone. "This is normal. It's _okay_. You are allowed to be close to people. You are allowed to have friends. You are allowed to have people care about you, and you're going to have to face the fact - oh stupendous emperor of morons - that once we got a taste of you, we aren't ever letting go."

The insult was more for his benefit than it was to wound him, allowing for that constant stream of concern to be interrupted.

It was a good call. Too much too fast might break him.

He didn’t like admitting it, but it was true.

The thumbs stopped moving and she gripped on tight, getting to the big finale. "You can push us away all you want, you can try to treat us as horribly as possible, but we will wait for you."

As much as she meant it, they both knew she was really speaking for Shane.

And it was with that knowledge that she was able to continue on like it was nothing, as though this very simple conversation wouldn’t shake Hunter to his core. "You, Hunter Bradley, are stuck with us. Forever. You cannot win. Hell, there's nothing _too_ win. You've already won. You _know_ that."

The determined face was back, and whatever pity points he had won over by confused silence were overtaken by that silent, simmering rage. "So you are _going_ to apologize and then you are _going_ to treat Shane - not as a nuisance, not as a friend, but as kindly and as friendly and as _nicely_ as _everyone else_ knows you want to treat him. You are going to apologize like no one's _business,_ and when he takes you back, you are _not_ going to feel guilty, or angry, or mope, or think that you deserve nothing."

He couldn't hide the surprise, couldn't even think to try, because he _knew_ he had never told that to anyone, not even Blake.  It had been there, a simmering ball of inadequacy, but he stifled it down so long ago that he had taken comfort in the prospect of ignoring it for the rest of his life.

Was she psychic? Was she in his brain? Did she know voodoo?

Seeing his reaction, Tori just rolled her eyes and let go of his arms, leaning back against the couch like a _boss_.

"I'm not psychic, I'm a girl," she explained. "I have eyes and I use them."

Which… pretty much settled it.

Tori was the most badass person on their team. Had to be. She was the only _sane_ human among them.

Ladies and gentlemen - Tori Hanson, supreme ass-kicker.

She studied the ceiling lazily for a moment, as though stewing something over, and then frowned at him again. "I want to punch you again."

"You should," Hunter offered.

He found that he sincerely meant it.

It was the least he could do.

She considered this for a moment, then shook her head, a silent epiphany dawning on her that she didn't feel inclined to share. "No…" she muttered, a smile playing across her face. "I shouldn't."

Before he could object, or ask what the hell went on inside a girl’s brain, or what other secrets she knew that they could exploit for their entertainment - she left, darting out the door far more cheerfully than she had entered it.

It was confusing. Mind-freakin'-boggling-confusing, but…

He felt better though, strangely enough.  Maybe that had been exactly what the doctor ordered.

Conscience quelled, now all Hunter had to do was figure out a way to apologize to Shane in a manner befitting of his crimes.

So…Blake?

Yeah, why not give him a try. Under normal circumstances, Hunter would have turned to Cam, just so he could kick his pride in the face real good, but that guy _sucked_ at apologizing. And Hunter honestly didn't want to know what Dustin would suggest.

Copious amounts of pillows and chocolate were sort of out of his budget.

-:-:-:-:-:-

The benefit of having your brother's girlfriend be an extreme badass was that she could use her powers against the team's tech wizard to coerce/force/demand a fake meeting call to lure Shane into Ninja Ops.

Sure, Hunter could have asked Cam himself but…yeah, this was more fun. And effective. Between Dustin and Tori, Hunter had gotten himself a personally scheduled meeting with everyone's favorite red ranger. The excess involvement was something he had to adjust to, but hell, he had bothered all of them with his stupidity too, the least he could do was let them help.

When Cyber Cam had hailed him with a thirty second proximity warning, Hunter checked the door one more time. Blake had said something about a last minute addition to the plan, not feeling the need to inform Hunter what it exactly _was_ (‘cuz, you know, it wasn’t like he's nervous or anything, he was _totally_ good), and if he didn't get here in the next ten seconds, Hunter was going to tell his girlfriend as many embarrassing childhood memories as he could possibly think of. He'd probably make up a few of them too, just to add to the navy ranger's humiliation, and- _no,_ Hunter was _not_ trying to distract himself from the fact that in less than thirty seconds he was going to own up to what a humongous jackass he had been.

Own up to that and nothing else, because it wasn't like he was going to pour out his heart and soul right now anyway, right? It wasn't like he had to profess his undying love.  All he had to do was open up his mouth, apologize, and _maybe_ get a hug (if that), so he needed to _stop_ worrying and-

"Catch."

The instinct to stop the thing moving towards his face initiated before Hunter had processed Blake's command, and the little bastard was back out the door before Hunter could (affectionately) belittle him for it.  Not that he would have had time to, because no sooner had his brother streaked off into the distance than had Shane appeared, appropriately ninja-garbed-up just to remind Hunter how sexy he could look sometimes (most times... _always_ ).

The air ninja paused; understanding dawning on him as he silently re-evaluated the situation, recognizing that it was a set-up. He seemed thoughtful but appropriately apathetic (so that Hunter would have to do the talking -he was just a _darling_ like that) before his eyes halted on the object in Hunter's hands, his hard-worked poker face immediately being melting away into open confusion.

Hunter didn't bother looking down, he knew what they were.

That

Little.

_Bastard._

He was going to kill Blake.

Hunter was torn between the powerful urge to throw the bouquet of flowers as far away from himself as humanely possible and wondering maybe if he just _didn't_ address them, Shane wouldn't either.  Except that was the opposite of what he was supposed to be doing now, he was _supposed_ to be turning over a new leaf, and how could he do that if they were ignoring some damn flowers?  Maybe he should just pretend he didn't know Shane was going to be here either, or maybe he could just run away because living alone forever wasn't _that_ bad and-

"Hunter," Shane interrupted, bringing the blond's wild internal monologue to a screeching halt. "Chill."

Hunter blinked, an immediate sense of calm washing over him.

Chill, right.  Because he was Hunter Bradley. He was Hunter Bradley, and he was _not_ a crazy, stupid, wuss. Hunter Bradley didn't chicken-out, or freak-out, or…blow-out, and he didn't give up and he wasn't going to start _now_ just because of something like a bouquet of red roses. He wasn't.

And he wasn't going to do _this_ anymore; he wasn't going to be this guy, because this guy really, really sucked. No one liked this guy.

The old guy though, he was okay. Not the best, but he was workable.

Now, he was going to give Shane these stupid red flowers in the manliest, most platonic, friendly-way feasible, own up to his failures ,and accept whatever Shane threw at him like a mature adult.

Hunter thrust his arm out before he could change his mind, presenting the bouquet with as much nonchalance as he could muster.

Smile in place - a real smile, genuine and heartfelt and stupidly good looking - Shane relieved him of his burden, his fingers brushing across the tips of the petals with an ease and gentleness that just wasn't fair.

God, this was the rest of his life. Just soaking in every, _little_ detail of Shane Clarke. He couldn't help it, but at least Hunter didn't feel pathetic. Not when it was this satisfying.

The brown eyes were back on him, bouquet lowered to Shane's side, relieving them of the final distraction.

Hunter forced himself still, willing his fingers into non-twitching obedience.

"I'm sorry," he blurted, distracting his hands with a death-grip against the side of his pants. "I…uh, overreacted."

He wanted to wince, or punch himself at how horribly inadequate his explanation was, but he closed his eyes instead, waiting for the explosion that would follow. There would probably be a good rant followed by his nose being broken (again) and then a little more yelling before-

"Hunter."

Would everyone _stop_ interrupting? How hard was it to have an internal rant?

These people were _so_ _demanding._

The crimson ranger opened his eyes, irritated, only to see a calm and collected Shane studying him. There was no tension in the other teen’s body, no indication that he was about to attack, or yell or…anything really. There was that small hint of the sadness Tori had when they had done their heart-to-heart, but for the most part, Shane just looked…happy. Content.

It looked good on him.

The leader cocked his head to the side casually, a small smile playing across his face. "We're okay."

The " _That's it? No hitting?"_ thought process must have played across Hunter's face, because Shane immediately let out a bark of laughter and moved forward, throwing his arms across Hunter's shoulders and pulling the thunder ninja a hug, still chuckling. Hunter sank into the hold gradually, knowing that this was his actual punishment but pushing the thought aside to soak up the feeling- the happy vibrations.

He slowly reciprocated the hold, hating Shane, because this wasn't how friends hugged, this was closer, more intimate. He rested his head against the other red’s shoulder, Shane's fingers immediately combing through his hair like he had the right (though Hunter almost couldn't remember a time when he hadn't surrendered that to Shane, when he _didn't_ have it) and he hated him some more. Hated and loved him just a little bit more as stupidly gushing and stupid and god _damnit_ -

It shouldn't be this easy. Hunter shouldn't be this effortlessly forgiven, he _shouldn't_.

But just like with the evil-mind-beam thing, and the making-out-with-Dustin thing, and the love potion, and ruining pie night, and all these little mistakes he couldn't help but make, they- _Shane,_ welcomed him back. Wanted him back.

Gun to head, knife to throat, thunder and lightning and Lothor bearing down on him, Hunter would never be able to properly describe how good that felt.

Maybe there would be a day when Shane would have enough of the thunder ninja, and he would grow up and move on and Hunter would just be some dusty memory fading in the back of his mind, but even if that _did_ happen, even if it was inevitable, there was no damn point in speeding up the process.

Hunter would take what he could get and enjoy it while it lasted, damn the consequences.

Shane didn't seem like he was going to let go any time soon, so Hunter simply relished the moment, knowing that this would probably be what the rest of his life was like.

And, well…

It could be worse.

A whole lot worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deliver unto you Tori. Because she exists, and has a right to wrangle all these crazy people into a semblance of structure and…reasonableness.
> 
> Until next time ^_^


	37. Till Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References to Sensei Switcharoo. And then some made up monsters.

With everything under control - at least for the moment - Shane was finally able to sit back and enjoy the holiday season. He and Hunter were fine, there was a lull in Lothor's attacks and Shane was _finally_ done with all his family obligations. There were no more parties, concerts, caroling, or parades that needed his attendance. All he had to do was put in an obligatory appearance in on Christmas morning with his family, and then it was off to Ninja Ops to celebrate with his team. With Dustin practically living there, it housed the majority of the ninjas, so it only made sense for it to be their convergence point when it came to celebrating the holidays.

He _supposed_ a majority of this new feeling of contentment could be contributed to the fact that he and Hunter were on speaking terms.

Shane knew it would be rough, but for the most part…

For the most part he felt unstoppable, like a winner.

He had Hunter back.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Maybe Hunter shouldn't have made up with Shane. Yeah, he's got it; he was the champion of wishy-washy ninny-ing about, but still. He wasn't a masochist or anything; it was just that something as simple as apologizing to Shane had made the red ranger like…ridiculously happy.

It was ludicrous. Not the- it sounded wrong when he left it at that, but the _intensity_ of it, that was what bothered Hunter. Kind of.  Sort of.  If he was still allowed to be finicky about such things.

There would probably never be a time when he wasn't.

It was like the skater had walled up all his joy and enthusiasm during their stupid fight and the moment it was resolved, the dam had burst and showered them all with this gigantic backlash of pent-up jubilation. It _should_ have made Hunter sick to his stomach. Now Shane was impossibly cheerful, and because Hunter knew he was the cause of that…he wasn’t sure how it made him feel.

He had made Shane sad - horribly morose - and then he had made him happy. Indescribably happy. _Him_. Hunter Bradley was the sole source of Shane's rejuvenation.

And there was also the little fact that _now_ Shane would smile at him in this stupidly _nice_ way, undeniably genuine with how glad he was that things had been resolved, and Hunter wanted to hate him for how good it made him feel. As though he was important. ‘Special’ - would be the word Blake would use.

Hunter wasn’t Blake, and even though he'd promised not to be such an incompetent imbecile in the future, there were still some lines he couldn't cross.

Too close. It was too close to him (stupid, when talking about Shane, but there it was). So now Shane kept sending him these smiles and touching him, taking physical liberties (because it was emotional boundaries or physical ones, and Hunter had pretty much maxed out his card at this point) and gradually working them back into regular, snarky-friend condition. They couldn't recapture what they once had, but they were building back up to something.  Something better.

‘Best friends’, according to Dustin book which was…fair enough. It wasn't impossible for Shane to be Hunter's best friend.  Best friends could have part of the duo be emotionally incompetent…and also incredibly, very much pathetically attracted to the other one…and terrible at expressing themselves…and demonstrate this love by being a jackass.

That was what they were. Lucky Shane.

He had really won the lottery on that one.

And since he was being so in touch with his complex emotional workings, Hunter could go ahead and admit that the only reason he had wanted to keep Shane away was because it was easier. You know, emotionally, since that was the name of the game.

When Shane wasn't happy, when he wasn't close, Hunter didn't think about any possibilities, didn't get hopeful, didn't…want to try things. Like hugging, for instance. Or… holding. Hugging was okay (and by that, Hunter meant stupendous) but _this_ guy was pro-holding. But that was reserved for special situations only, because Shane was hetero (which Hunter had to remind himself of over and _over_ ) and didn't do boy-touching (unless it was Cam or Dustin or now _Hunter_ ) so the crimson ranger was just going to have to suck it up until he could get his next hit.

Yeah, his deepest, darkest secret was that he was a hug-junkie.

Only if they were from Shane, but still, he wasn't sure if that qualification made it any better.

It wasn't as awkward as it could have been. Suave, sarcastic Hunter was finally back with an audience that actually appreciated his jokes, and it was nice to have someone other than Tori to mock Blake with. Well, as much as Shane ever mocked. He was too nice to allow Hunter to get far. And their "time apart" had created new stories to exchange (easy familiar ground), which eventually lead to the bolder critiques of each other's battle strategies, which lead to mock sparing, which lead to impromptu, wonderfully terrible wrestling matches on the ground.

If Hunter didn't know any better, he would think that Shane was doing half this shit on purpose. Luckily, the blond had developed a mantra to help combat these uncontrolled influxes of hope. And libido.

That one was getting tougher to fight.

Christmas Eve found the team gathered at Ninja Ops, skirmishes with Lothor and other conflicts having postponed the decoration of the main room, as suggested by Dustin. Originally, Hunter had thought it was a waste of time (he and Blake hadn't decorated for a Christmas since…well, since his parents), if it would only be relevant for a day and a half, what was the point?

But then Tori had given him the _"I'll smack you down, I swear, if you so much as make a displeased face"_ look, and Blake had that low-key happy-enthusiasm that usually meant he was extremely excited about something but didn't want to upset Hunter, so the blond conceded.

He had ruined pie-day anyway; the least he could do was string up some garlands in the tv room.

Decorations were a team effort, and by that, Hunter meant Tori and Dustin had it covered. The yellow ranger apparently had a surplus of tinsel and ornaments stockpiled somewhere, and Tori had sifted through thrift shops for the best "swag", as Cyber Cam had so eloquently put it. Their efforts brought them an old - but fairly decent - artificial tree, strings of lights with an occasional missing bulb (though it didn't break the circuit, thank _jesus_ ), garland, candles, ornaments, and even a Christmas-themed train set. Hunter hadn't known those existed. Wasn't sure why they had gotten it, but Tori had started to get that look again, and he had wisely retreated elsewhere. Got it, he was on probation. She did _not_ want any repeat incidents. Hunter could respect that.

He was in the middle of hanging up another piece of garland around the top perimeter of the room, minding his own business, when his hand came in contact with… _it_. Hand-sized - so not another string of garland - but clearly too shrub-like to be considered an ornament. He whipped it out for a closer inspection to find one of the most dreaded pieces of Christmas-time decoration.

Mistletoe.

Hunter’s first instinct was to shove it back into the box, but if he did _that_ someone with less common sense could come upon it and actually use it, which could lead to many awkward moments. Hunter knew that he would probably get stuck under it with Shane no less than five times if lady luck had her way.

He truly hated that bitch.

So he couldn't put it back, and he couldn't hang it up, so his next choice of action was to shove it in his pocket and call it a day.

Unfortunately, a sudden hand against his shoulder startled him enough to trigger a defensive response, which was apparently to hurl the thing as far away from him as possible.  He knew that grip, he knew that that grip all too well.

Shane (owner of that grip and all around stupid, broken person with a heart of gold) looked at him curiously – which was, Hunter reminded himself, a perfectly _natural_ response when your friend started acting like a spaz.

Hunter felt his eye twitch from the effort to not search for where the damn mistletoe had gone.

"Are you okay?" Shane asked, familiar Boy Scout, Superman, epi-concern back and applied to Hunter.

The blond wanted to say _yes_ and he wanted to hug Shane (for being a Boy Scout, Superman of epi-concern), but his mental-train-wreck-to-mouth communication was cut off by a bewildered shout from Blake.

The younger Bradley's cheek was red from what was probably a sudden impact, and he rubbed it sorely, other hand clutching the displaced mistletoe. "Hunter, what the hell?"

The navy ranger held it up to inspect it, not aware of Hunter's missile of choice, and as though it could not be more perfectly timed, Tori leaned in and kissed his cheek. 

Of course, unsatisfied with a peck, Blake continued to hold the decoration aloft and went in for a real kiss.

Shane must have thought Hunter had planned the whole thing out from start to finish, because his eyes went all approving, smile huge, and Hunter couldn’t find it in himself not to smile back. 

He didn’t spend the rest of the evening feeling bitter about maybe-kisses that would never voluntarily be given.

At least, he tried not to.

-:-:-:-:-:-

To Blake's credit, Tori had been the one to snag the mistletoe and hang it up, not the navy ranger (though Hunter couldn't help but notice that he didn't try too terribly hard to put up a fight when she took it). If Hunter wasn't on her bad side, he would've taken the greenery and burned it. He didn't care _how_ long it took his brother to ask her out, mistletoe was freaking _deadly_.

He would eat those words two hours later, when he had finally managed to lose track of Shane long enough to get trapped under that stupid piece of flora with him and receive a warm laugh and a kiss of the cheek.

Yeah, a cheek kiss. From _Shane_.

Hunter would like to note that the apocalypse did _not_ arrive immediately after.

Whether it was the spirit of the season or Shane's gratefulness for the restoration of their friendship, Hunter didn't know. He only knew that their future accidental run-ins under that thing had increased exponentially from that point onward.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Cam allowed the decorations to stay up for one week before insisting they be taken down again, insisting that it needed to be taken care of before they got distracted with monster attacks and Ninja Ops stayed Christmas-ready until February. Shane could understand his reasoning, and relented easily, putting away the decorations with quiet care.

He made sure that he was the one who took down the mistletoe, tucking it away in his pocket for…hell, he wasn’t sure why. Commemorative purposes, maybe. He had kissed Hunter like, five times and not _once_ gotten punched in the face. He knew the blond was just humoring him, but still.

Later, he would be too busy to see Hunter frown at the vacant spot in the doorway, nor the almost disappointed sigh that followed it.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Hunter ended up getting Shane a complete new set of safety gear for Christmas. It was the whole deal: elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards, helmet-

Okay, Hunter had chickened out on the helmet. He hadn't wanted to go overboard, but his gift was well received anyway and he didn't have to explain that the reason behind it was that Shane's old gear was looking a bit worn, and he loved him too much to allow the risk of them failing on the stupid Boy Scout.

Safety first, right?

-:-:-:-:-:-

Shane hadn't been focused on their sparing, too distracted by the determined look on Hunter's face and how it was affecting him…differently than all previous viewings of this _exact_ same look. This hadn't been a problem before. Not just with Hunter, or guys - just, in general. Hormones had never been this bad.

Teenage karma was coming back to bite him in the ass. Figured.

So Shane hadn't been paying _that_ much attention to the actual sparing, which would explain the inevitable slip up which lead to the subsequent stumble, and soon he was leaning against Hunter's chest, the crimson ranger steadying him while the majority of their torsos maintained close physical contact. He wasn't sure what to say- Should Shane thank him?

He looked up to say something – and… as stupid as it sounded (and he _hated_ how freaking stupid it sounded because it was one of the worst, weakest most _awful_ explanations), Shane found himself caught. Hunter was so _close_  and staring and _god,_ it was like one of Tori's crappy romance novels- except it was real and now Shane couldn't make fun of them for how unrealistic they were and he _loved_ making fun of them and-

And then Hunter was pushing him back to his feet, gently, turning his eyes to the side and already walking out of the dojo, immediately talking to fill up the silence. Did Shane want pizza? They should get pizza. Pizza _now_ sounded like the best idea ever.

Shane trailed after him, quietly, and mused over the sudden change from determined to mildly frantic.

-:-:-:-:-:-

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a bit, Hunter at least _trying_ to look like he was paying attention to the television in front of him. That was what they had come in here to do. To go about their normal routine so they could just subconsciously reinforce the fact that the current predicament of their red ranger was not something to be worried about.

That didn't mean Hunter wasn't, or that Shane wasn't, but you know, they could at least pretend.

When the uneasy shuffling started up again from the mound of pillows at his side, Hunter decided to break their unspoken rule and address the elephant in the room.

"It could be worse," he offered, glancing down with what he hoped was a look of sympathy.

Two accusing guinea pig eyes stared back at him, slightly wounded that he would ever dare to suggest such a thing. 

_Okay, enough with the nice act._

The direct route had always worked best for Hunter in the past anyway. "Hey man, Sensei's been stuck like that for months - you can suck it up for a few hours until Cam fixes it."

Granted, Sensei also had months to cope with the limitations of his body’s sudden transformation, whereas Shane had been like this for say – about an hour– but tough love did not delve into details such as these for practicality’s sake.

When Hunter looked back down, the guinea pig was playing with the edge of his tiny sleeve, properly abashed.

It sighed, shaking its tiny guinea pig head. "I know."

Cool. Great. Glad they managed to get through that one.

Knowing that Shane had to be at least a _little_ torn up on the inside, Hunter reached down to gently pat the top of his head.  As a newly-transformed rodent, this was perfectly allowed, and not an action that could be at all analyzed or second-guessed.  So he didn’t.  Shane didn’t, and also Hunter didn’t, but that was mostly because Shane took that as his cue to hop atop of Hunter’s arm, scaling the crimson ranger’s long-sleeve shirt until he had reached Hunter’s shoulder.  He settled down, clearly to get a better view of the television ( _clearly)_ and obviously _not_ to make Hunter’s evening a mild hell.  Really.

On a scale of how random their week-to-week activities tended to be, Shane and Sensei switching bodies definitely ranked near the top of the list as far as spontaneity and inconvenience went. It wasn't even Lotho-inflicted this time, and that was something Hunter would never let Cam forget.

Yeah, it was the green ranger’s fault.  _That guy_ , the one who was supposed to _prevent_ these kinds of things from happening.

Stupid Cam, wanting his dad to be human so he could hug him and be normal again.

…alright, even Hunter could admit it wasn't an entirely unreasonable desire, but the moment Shane had gotten caught in the crossfire of Cam’s brain-shenanigans, Hunter’s objectivity had been compromised. Now all he could think about was what would happen if Cam couldn't switch them back. What if Shane was stuck like this? Hunter would stick by him, no question, keep him company and hang out with him, but it wasn't fair for Sensei to keep a body that wasn't his. He’d had his shot; Shane deserved to live his life in his own _goddamn_ _body_.

_So_ , Hunter reiterated, _stupid Cam_.

A cough jolted him off of that unpleasant train of thought, and he glanced down to see Shane throwing him a look of consideration. Studious, like he was just catching on to something Hunter hadn't wanted him to see.

_Damn it,_ he was supposed to be keeping things cool.

Hunter waited, fighting to keep relaxed.

"You've got a big head," Shane finally allowed, not _quite_ an innocent observation. Joking- like old, human Shane.

The tension that wasn't as nonexistent as it should have been disappeared, and Hunter inwardly smiled.

Shane was starting to get out of his funk.

Playing along, he poked the side of the rodent's head, careful not to push too hard. "And you've got a stupid hat."

There was an indignant huff as his finger was batted away. "It's a status symbol," Guinea-Shane explained. "Didn't Sensei Omino have one?"

He did, but that wasn't relevant to Hunter’s goal at this exact moment.

He wanted Shane to feel better.

_Huh_ , it was weird how much easier tasks were to achieve when you acknowledged them.

The blond scoffed, taking care to turn his head away from Shane. "Please, he wouldn't be caught dead in one of those."

The quiet laugh Hunter got in return was more satisfying than anything else he had done that day, and his evening had included reaming out Cam and baking cookies with Dustin and a newly Guinea-pigged Shane.

Content, the red ranger began to settle himself in, arranging Hunter's hair as a cushion. "I thought it was universally accepted that clothes on small furry animals equaled cuteness."

On Sensei, no, but on the air ninja…

"Alright Shane," Hunter replied, coy and relaxed and _not_ obsessively aware of how close Shane was to his face, because he was still a guinea pig and that would be weird. "If it will please your ego, you're cute." Hunter stared at their reflection in the TV, conscious not to disrupt Shane's perch. "Happy?"

In the glass, Shane waved at him back at him in silent acknowledgement. "Thrilled."

It was a sentiment Hunter could return.

-:-:-:-:-:-

It was a kind of weird day.

Dustin flopped his head to the side, mumbling incoherently before trying to make a flailing gesture with his arm.  Shane wasn’t sure what he was trying to do, but the only thing he managed was to smack the air ninja in the side of the head. First space pollen, and now space dust. Or space aerosol drugs, or whatever fancy term Cam had used for it. Point was, that Dustin happened to be drugged out of his mind, and now it was up to him and Hunter to drag the mobility-challenged ranger into bed while Cam got to work on a cure.

From the yellow ranger's other side, Hunter made an annoyed sound, met with a similar assault from Dustin's wandering fingers. "I like you Dustin, but I swear to God if you smack me in the face _one more time_ …"

Shane frowned, and then immediately tried to hide it by readjusting his grip on his best friend, trying to ignore the sudden flare of jealousy. Sure, Hunter had no problems with being close to _Dustin_ , but once he figured out Shane cared about him, it was two weeks of silent treatment.

Though if he was going to complain about that, he might as well complain about there not being air in space, or Porter’s tendency to be a dick, or the fact that Dustin was more susceptible to evil-space-irritants than the rest of them.

It was an unfortunate fact of life, expecting it to be fair was stupid.

As though reading his mind, Dustin chose that exact moment to collapse all of his weight on the red ranger, making Shane stumble into the wall for a brief moment before Hunter caught on and helped them both upright. In response, Dustin made a noncommittal sound and stared at the ceiling with wide eyes.

Shane had to remind himself that it could be worse.  At least no one was under the effects of a _love potion_ this time.

Hunter sighed and motioned for them to keep going, readjusting his hold on Dustin's shoulder. "And no more of that either," he lectured, as though the Earth ninja could hear him. Shane wondered if the warning was because the blond actually cared if Shane got smacked into walls, or if talking just made him feel better.

Most likely the latter.

"Well," Hunter grunted, balancing Dustin's weight on his right side as he opened the door to Cam's room, "at least it isn't you this time."

Had they not been so close to their destination, Shane would have stopped right there, shocked at how easy Hunter had admitted it. Yeah, there were a lot of reasons to be glad Shane hadn't gotten hit from a team standpoint (he was the leader, helped keep everyone cool and together in battle), so it wasn't like this should go towards his head or anything, but still-

Pushing those thoughts aside, Shane continued the conversation, trying to keep up the light banter, scanning his memory for the last big status ailment suffered by the team. "The guinea pig thing happened to both of us."

Hunter didn’t immediately respond as they navigated Dustin to the bed.  The process was made more difficult when the yellow ranger kept jerking at random intervals, but eventually they just leaned him over the bed and let go, allowing gravity do the rest of the work. It was mostly effective, getting the majority of his top half on, and Shane and Hunter quickly pushed his legs onto the mattress before he could fall off.

There, mission accomplished.

Hunter was the one who broke the silence when they stood back to appreciate their work.

"What I meant," he began in that hushed, serious tone he reserved for special occasions, "was that I'm glad it wasn't you."

Shane wasn’t entirely sure how to respond, because Hunter didn’t know how much it meant to hear that, and Shane didn’t want to lose him again, so he settled for a smile.  That felt safe. "Don't let Cam hear that."

Hunter gave him a meaningful, yet annoyed that impressed the fact that wasn't what he meant and Shane _knew_ it, and the red ranger better not make him spell it out for him.  Specific, but Shane was pretty sure that was an accurate interpretation. There was a lot of substance in that look. Well, the look conveyed the first part. The sigh followed by a fierce hug expressed the second.

Shane relaxed into it gratefully, and fought the surprising urge to cling to the blond.

For a moment, it was perfect.  Or, for them, as close to perfect as things could be.  Which was probably why the universe dictated that Dustin – in an epic show of drugged out strength – chose that moment to yank Shane onto the bed, which inevitably brought Hunter down with him.  Shane was too surprised to let out more than an undignified _squawk_ as an unapologetic Dustin curled around his side, using the red ranger as his personal body-warmer. He muttered something incoherent under his breath and properly latched himself to Shane, leaving the skater with no room to retreat. Beside him, Hunter laughed, too entertained by the antics of drugged-out Dustin to care about how he was practically on top of Shane.

"Sucks to be you," he taunted, patting the leader's chest sympathetically as he moved to get up.

"You're leaving me alone?"

He tried not to sound as disappointed as he felt – and he guessed it sort of worked?  Hunter gave in immediately, settling down beside him and proving that the initial retreat was just for show.  With a few annoyed flaps of his hand, he gestured impatiently for Shane to scoot over, allowing him more room to get comfortable.

Three guys in one bed - it didn't leave a lot of wiggle room.

He would appreciate this more later.

"Hey," Hunter began cheerfully, breaking Shane out of his thoughts, "this is the bed you _'slept with'_ Cam in."

The red ranger rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

_God_ , he was never going live that down.

The blond gave him a smug wink. "You should come to my place some time."

There was something dangerously mischievous in that tone, something Shane was glad for because it kept him from taking Hunter seriously, from envisioning that possibility.

"Seriously," Hunter continued, Cheshire smile in place, "my bed is _so lonely_." He followed this up with a suggestive wag of his eyebrows, and Shane could only hope that his bark of laughter could account for the heat rising to his face.

He tilted his head back and stared at the far wall, keeping Hunter from getting a good look at him. "You have Blake, don't you?"

This earned him a dramatic scoff, and Shane knew that this specific behavior, _that_ goofy Hunter was just for him. No one else had privilege to that.

_That_ was what he had been fighting for.

The crimson ranger's head rolled against his shoulder, settling in more comfortably than he ever dared to before. This was better, much better than what they previously had. It was like jumping up fifty levels without having to go through all the hard work. Not to say Shane hadn't freaking _brawled_ to get to this point.

Patience _was_ a virtue.

"Yeah," Hunter replied casually, using that half-bored, half-playful tone as he brushed away Dustin's twitching fingers, "but not in my _bed_."

Shane laughed again, combing a hand through Dustin's unruly curls. "Hey, what you do is your own business."

He didn't see the scowl but he knew it was there, almost immediately followed by a flick to the head that expressed Hunter’s displeasure.  Shane laughed again, louder, and his chuckles only increased when Dustin seemed to decide that Shane wasn’t enough for him and latched onto the front of Hunter’s ninja suit, dragging him closer so that he was essentially draped over Shane and burrowing into the blond’s side.

Outwardly, Shane laughed and aimed a sympathetic look at Hunter. Inwardly, he promised to buy Dustin as much ice cream as his heart desired the moment he got better.

There was a frustrated sigh that Shane could only hope was for appearances’ sake before Hunter adjusted to Dustin's hold, draping an arm across Shane's waist like it was just the easiest thing in the world. Like they hadn't worked so hard just to get here. With Shane not-seeing and Hunter silently fighting and the lack of awareness and the fear and the final acceptance, like they hadn't had to go through all _that_ just to get here.

But here they got, and it was just as easy as _that_.

Life was about as hard as you made it.

"Don't get used to this," Hunter warned, not really meaning it, which was good because Shane couldn't find a way _not_ to. They'd simply come too far.

This was victory.

And it couldn't go much uphill from here.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Hell.

Hand basket.

You get the metaphor.

It had been a disaster, far worse than the time with the dragon (because at least then Hunter could still _see_ Shane, knew that even though they couldn't talk he was there, and alive, and breathing), and the crimson ranger had managed to pull a miracle out of thin air and repress all the anxiety and tension and worry he had down to lead his little "team" (Tori) towards victory while abandoned plant facility number eight fell to pieces around him. There had been a plan. They had stuck to that plan for about three seconds and then the world went blindingly white and Hunter got ripped into pieces. It felt like he was being pulled apart down to his smallest fricking _membrane_ and then shoved back together, all in the matter of a second. A teleporting guy. Awesome. A _painful_ teleporting guy who had already separated them, and to add to that glorious little pile of _sunshine,_ their coms were down. Because a plan couldn't properly go to shit without _that_ little ingredient. So far Hunter had only managed to locate Tori, but there was only one monster and they were the only ones fighting him so where was everyone else? Had it launched Blake into space? Dustin into the ocean? Into walls, phased into buildings? Where the hell were they?

Hunter had gotten hit by that magic beam again just as Cam made his dynamic entrance. Which was good, because Tori wouldn't be left alone, but then _ow, damn_ , that _hurt_ and then Hunter was by some cliffs, Dustin and Blake occupied with what was apparently a second monster.

The second monster was a dramatic improvement in the way that he only wanted to throw rocks at them, but also majorly sucked because he was very good at _aiming_. Even between the three of them it was difficult to get close enough to do any damage, and there were all too busy using their elemental attacks on the boulders flying towards their _faces_ to bother aiming at the monster.

Hunter hadn't even noticed falling into it, hadn't figured it out because when Blake wanted to be crafty he was a pro, but the navy ranger had somehow managed to pull decoy duty so that Dustin and Hunter could get in close. Smart because Hunter's weapon was the strongest and Dustin could give it a taste of its own medicine, but infuriating because the rocks had been difficult to dodge when the focus had been equally distributed between the three of them so Blake shouldn’t have a chance in hell _now-_

Hunter should have been paying more attention, but the fact that Shane was still unaccounted for was lingering in the back of his mind, so he didn't pick up on it until Blake was on the verge of becoming meat pudding, the strain catching up to him, and big brother mode kicked into gear. Dustin was the most agile anyway, leave him to sneak in close, Blake and Hunter would both be the decoys.

He had never been so desperate to have rocks flying towards his face, but he and Blake managed, _together_. A rough but inevitable victory, in the distance Hunter could see Dustin sneaking up behind rock monster, serving up a smack down Earth ninja style.

Probably shouldn’t have been so viciously satisfying to see a monster topple over onto its stupid rock _face_ , but Hunter wasn’t mature, so it was _hilarious_.

It launched off one more boulder in protest, as though rebelling against the injustice of it all, but as a celebration of its incompetence, the projectile missed all of them, speedily rolling towards the edge of the cliff, off to its watery grave. Hunter clapped Blake on the side of the arm, laughing with the other two rangers as they appreciated a brief moment of rest.

It was a satisfying victory.

He should have known, he should have freaking _known_ that the two monsters had some kind of connection, that even if they were stupid and obnoxious they weren't _that_ stupid or obnoxious - but it had seemed like such a clean win, it had been reasonable to assume-

There was a bright light, a blinding flicker at the edge of the cliff and suddenly Shane was _there_ , standing numb while he waited for the agony of teleportation to pass.  As fast as they were, they couldn’t- Hunter wasn’t fast _enough_ to stop the boulder from smashing into him, so quick Hunter would have missed it if he wasn't intoned to all things Shane, and then the red ranger and the boulder were gone, _poof_ , like a leaf on the wind.

Part of Hunter went with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know - all you guys wanted for Christmas was a cliffhanger. You're welcome ;)
> 
> Until next time :D


End file.
